We are pleased to announce that the Kosovo Cinematography Center has appointed the evaluation jury for feature film projects submitted in the December 2024 call.
The jury consists of renowned local and international filmmakers and professionals who will bring their expertise and experience to the evaluation process.
The jury members are: Tin Dirdamal, Norika Sefa, Antoneta Kastrati, Thomas Logoreci, and Alireza Ghasemi.
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Tin Dirdamal is a self-taught filmmaker and editor renowned for his innovative approach to challenging cinematic projects. Born near the US-Mexico border, his multidisciplinary background spans engineering, psychology, and architecture, which inform his filmmaking. At 22, he created his first feature film, earning the Audience Award at Sundance. His work has since been showcased at prestigious festivals such as Venice Biennale, IDFA, and Sundance. Tin is a nomadic artist, he integrates cultural experiences from diverse regions into his practice. Frequently invited to mentor at institutions like UCLA and Yale, he advocates for authenticity in filmmaking, challenging traditional conventions through contradiction and introspection.
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Norika Sefa is a a writer/ director. She has graduated from FAMU in Prague. She is best known for her 2021 debut film Looking for Venera, which established her as an emerging talent with a very distinguished voice. The film won and was nominated for many prestigious awards. Her earlier works include Desde Arriba, a short documentary filmed in the Peruvian jungle under the guidance of Werner Herzog. Her most recent short, Like a Sick Yellow, 2024 - is an avant- garde documentary that further explores her bold approach to storytelling and visual expression. Invitations brought Norika across different arts and cultural institutions, to talk about her distinctive cinematic approach. She is actively involved in teaching filmmaking and have served as a jury member for numerous important film festivals. Norika is a member of the European Film Academy (EFA).
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Antoneta Kastrati, a Kosovo-born writer, director, and producer, works between Los Angeles and Kosovo. After surviving the war in the late 1990s, she began making documentaries exploring post-war challenges. Selected for the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women, her short film She Comes in Spring (2013) premiered at Busan International Film Festival, and won multiple awards. Her debut feature, Zana (2019), premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and was Kosovo’s official entry for the 2020 Oscars. In 2020, she was selected as Sydney Film Festival and EFP’s European Women Filmmakers to Watch. Most recently, she produced The Lemurian Candidate (2025) set in California and is developing her next feature, Return to the Mountain in Kosovo.
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Thomas Logoreci is a writer and filmmaker known for his contributions to both documentary and fiction cinema. He co-wrote Here Be Dragons, a feature-length essay documentary about Albania, with acclaimed Irish filmmaker Mark Cousins. The film premiered in Europe at the BFI London Film Festival and had its North American debut at Telluride. Logoreci also co-wrote and co-directed the fiction feature Bota, which premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and went on to screen at over 25 film festivals worldwide. The film was Albania’s official selection for the 2016 Academy Awards. In addition to his work as a writer and director, Logoreci contributed as a camera operator on How Do You Measure a Year?, the 2023 Oscar-nominated short documentary by experimental documentarian Jay Rosenblatt.
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Alireza Ghasemi is an Iranian filmmaker based in Paris. He is an alumnus of both the Cannes Cinéma de Demain (2018) and Berlinale Talents (2022). His short films, including Better than Neil Armstrong, Extra Sauce, Solar Eclipse, and Lunch Time—which was nominated for the Short Film Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017—have earned international recognition. Alireza's debut feature, In the Land of Brothers, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2024, where he received the Best Directing Award.
