50 Shades of Love: The Impact of Cinematography on the Perception of Love

Cinema, as a cultural and artistic medium, holds the power to reflect and shape society's understanding and perception of various social issues, including the concept of LOVE.
One could think of it as a giant Kaleidoscope of emotions.
But, how does Cinematography shape our perceptions of feelings, of love?
On July 19, 2023, starting from 5PM at the Art Gallery in Peja, we will try to explore more on this matter, with our four guest panellists from the world of film and animation.
Love is a prominent theme in films. Whether through epic romances, heart-wrenching dramas, or light-hearted comedies, films offer diverse narratives that shape our understanding of love, how it reveals itself and how it affects our social life, challenges social norms, and how the power dynamics in romantic relationships work.
Together with our four guests, Blerta Zeqiri, Marko Djeska, Flaka Kokolli, and Erblin Nushi, we will try to explore some of the questions we raise on, how cinematography portrays love? And if movies are presenting love as an idealised concept, rather than the reality of complexity and imperfections of human relations?
Don’t miss this discussion, on July 19, 2023, and join us at the 14th edition of Anibar International Animation Festival.

Blerta Zeqiri

Blerta Zeqiri is a renowned Kosovar film director with over 20 years of experience in the film industry. Blerta has been a member of the European Film Academy since 2012 and a "Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature" awarded by the French government. Her films have been showcased at over 200 film festivals, where she has won more than 30 awards.

Her short film, KTHIMI (The Return), was the first Kosovar film to be accepted at the Sundance Film Festival (one of the four major film festivals in the world, founded by Robert Redford) and won the main prize in 2012. Blerta is also the author of the first film in Kosovo dedicated to LGBT rights. Her film, MARTESA (The Marriage), received positive reviews from international media and was well-received by cinema audiences in Kosovo.

Since 2023, Blerta has been appointed as the director of the Kosovo Cinematography Center for a 4-year term.

Erblin Nushi

Born in Peja Kosovo in 1992, Erblin started acting at ten years old. They earned their B.A. from George Mason University where they studied film with a concentration in directing, and a minor in photography. Their short film, BINI, based on the day they became a refugee during the 1999 Kosovo war won multiple jury prize and audience awards, a Regional Student Emmy Award, and was nominated for a Student Academy Award. Erblin recently finished their debut feature film titled “I Love You More” which was supported from Kosovo Cinematography Center and Albanian National Cinematography Center.

Flaka Kokolli

Flaka Kokolli is an animator and film director of animated films from Kosovo. She completed her bachelor's studies in Animation in 2019. In 2020, she founded 'Flammorum', an animation studio in Pristina. Through this studio, she has completed two short films, two animated music videos, and various illustrated and animated projects, including informative and awareness-raising videos for different organizations.

Marko Dješka

Marko Dješka was born in Osijek, Croatia in 1983. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, specializing in animation. He has participated in various training programs, such as Animation Sans Frontieres and the scriptwriting course at La Poudriere in France. His student films, 'Slaughtered' (2010) and 'The Son of Satan' (2012), achieved significant success at numerous festivals, and the film 'Slaughtered' was acquired by the television station El Rey Network under the ownership of producer Robert Rodriguez. His film 'Ghost Town' won the Octavian Award at a festival in Zagreb as the best Croatian animated film in 2016. His latest animated film, 'All the Sensations in My Belly,' has won 25 awards and recognitions and has been screened at over 150 festivals worldwide, including Annecy in France, Outfest and Rhode Island Festival in the United States, Message to Man and Big Cartoon in Russia, Animafest in Zagreb, and OIAF in Ottawa, Canada, where it also won the award for best screenplay. He is also a co-founder of Adriatic Animation Studio for animation production in Zagreb and one of the organizers of the OHOHO Comics and Street Art Festival since 2019. He has published short comics in various magazines worldwide. He is also the editor of two comic magazines, OHOHOzin and Strip-Prefiks.