Over the course of five consecutive days, sixty-one artists from around the world—including Italy, France, China, Romania, Albania, Croatia, and Kosovo—presented their work in the mediums of video art, film, and experimental documentary. After an extensive itinerary, with events held in Tirana and Korçë throughout September, the festival closed its inaugural edition at the Producer Club Theater in Manhattan. In the final days of this journey, co-producer Alfred Tollja, New York Artistic Director Lorena Kalaja, and Festival Director Yllka Gjollesha organized the culminating events.
On the gala night, the festival jury—having evaluated all sixty-one selected works over the previous month—awarded the “Best Video Art” prize to Kosovar artist Leart Rama for his thirteen-part short-documentary series entitled “Corona Diary.” The first installment, Corona Diary #001, explores the empty streets of Pristina in springtime, pairing poetic narration with warm, exterior shots of houses. Rama’s message to viewers is simple but heartfelt: “Stay safe and spread love.”
Leart Rama is a rising director and the founder of Katarzè Films, an alternative film house in Kosovo. His films have toured major festivals around the globe. His work is driven by human emotion, seeking to guide audiences toward a sense of catharsis. The jury lauded him as a promising artist whose work engages directly with the shared experiences of the pandemic.
The jury’s second and third prizes went to Italian artist Francesca Silvia Maurizi and Albanian-American educator and visual artist Burim Myftiu, respectively. Maurizi—an alumna of the Florence Academy of Fine Arts—explores the dual nature of humanity in her video, crafting an allegory of our times in which individuals are consumed by their own anxieties as they search for consoling solutions. Myftiu’s “Remembrance” is a conceptual video piece created to memorialize the horrors of the 1999 Kosovo War, serving as a meditation on collective memory during and after conflict.
Inspired by Gjon Mili’s pioneering contributions to the world of art and photography—and by his work as writer and director on six documentary films—this festival pays tribute to his legacy. Notably, Mili’s short film Jammin’ the Blues was nominated for an Academy Award in 1937. The Gjon Mili International Video Art Festival—Albania’s only festival dedicated to experimental genres—also serves as a creative laboratory for young talent. Through collaborations with video artists, directors, photographers, and both national and international art researchers and consultants, it aims to become a truly global event committed to discovering the next generation of experimental filmmakers.
Foto Gallery from First Edition of Gjon Mili International Video Art Festival
