Ema Andrea
Has studied classical dance in the artistic Lyceum of Tirana, to later on study acting in the University of Tirana. She has developed her professional aspects in Italy, Bulgaria, Denmark studying commedia del’Arte, film, musical, Harold Pinter works.
Currently she is a professor at “University of Arts” in Tirana, where she teaches body language/acting.
Throughout her career so far she counts around 40 roles and 15 as a director and also one of the first Albanian women to put on stage alternative art. Her artistic career has mostly developed as a contemporary independent artist, actor, director and performer. She is known for producing various plays and activities with provocative subjects about society in Albania, for opening doors to explore alternative performative forms and spaces and as a great classical and contemporary performer.
An artist that has featured in many international productions, in Italy or Serbia. Throughout MAM foundation she has done many national and international events in the field of contemporary art, theatre,dance. One of the curators of The Mediterranean Biennale for Young Artists, specifically for performance art. Participant in “Theater festival” and winner of several prizes, recently she won best actress in the “Fiat Festival”, Scupi Festival, under the direction of Dino Mustafiq and also best director of the year in Albania with “Good Night Mother “ from Marsha Normanme.
Her artistic activities are related to social problems, social groups in need, women rights and domestic violence. One of the most “spicy” activities related to the former issue, was a theatrical piece performed by, and written from, women that were and some still are in prison.
She has also starred in various movies, as young as 19 on “Një vajzë dhe një djalë”, which has turned into a classic, and later in independent movies and TV series.
She is one of the founders and executives of “Memo” Foundation, an organization which processes historical memories, especially the dictatorship of the communist regime period throughout social and artistic events.
Lendita Zeqiraj
Lendita Zeqiraj is an award-winning Albanian born Kosovar film director, screenwriter and visual artist. Her films has premiered at prestigious Film Festivals such as Venice Film Festival (BALCONY – 2013 ), Palm Spring International ShortFest (FENCE – 2018), Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Aga’s House – 2019), and have been officially selected at more than five hundred film festivals around the globe, being praised with many awards and nominations.
As a filmmaker and visual artist, Lendita has studied extensively in both arts in Kosovo and France. She graduates and postgraduates on visual arts at the Academy of Arts in Prishtina, Kosovo and followed post-master Film Aesthetics studies in Paris, France.
FILM & SCREENPLAY AWARDS . Special Jury Award – AFI FEST 2013, Los Angeles . Special Jury Award- Bosphorus International Film Festival 2014, Istanbul, Turkey . Award of Merit – The INDIE FEST 2014, La Jolla CA, USA . Fiaticorti Award for Best Short Film – Fiaticorti Film Festival 2014, Istrana, Italy . Cinemabreve Special Mention for Best Short Film – Cinemabreve, Istrana, Italy . Best Director Award – Washington West Film Festival 2014- Washington DC . Best Narrative Short – New Jersey Film Festival 2014, Brunswick, USA . Best Narrative Short – Syros International Film Festival 2014, Syros, Greece . Best Narrative Short – Guam International Film Festival 2014, Hagatna, Guam . Best Directing – Red Dirt International Film Festival 2014, Stillwater, USA . Best Director Award – Albanian Film Week 2014, New York . Best Narrative Short – Red Dirt International Film Festival 2014, Stillwater, USA . Best Directing – Gwinnett Center International Film Festival 2014, Duluth, USA . Best Short – Trenton Film Festival 2014, Trenton NJ – USA . Best Directing – Oda International Film Festival 2014, Tetovo – Macedonia . Best Film – Swikos Kurzfilmfestival Basel 2014, Switzerland . Special Jury Award – Nile International Film Festival in Cairo Egypt – 2007 . Audience Award – TIFF, 2012 . Best Cinematography – New York International Independent Film Festival 2006 . Best Cinematography – Los Angeles Independent Film and Video Festival 2006 . Best Albanian Film Award – TIFF – 2005 . Grand Prix Award at Film Festival – Caen, France -2003 . Award for Best Short Film – Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival 2003 etc
Dejan Petrović
Dejan Petrović has written screenplays and directed several short feature and documentary films. As a producer, he has taken part in the production of about 50 short documentaries. He is a founder and general manager of the Independent Film Centre Filmart which carries out several projects such as International Student Film Camp Interaction, among others. He works as a professor at the department of Film and TV directing at the Academy of Arts in Belgrade. Also, he is a member of DokSerbia – the Association of Documentary Filmmakers of Serbia.
His films The Same and Adjusting has been shown at festivals around the world (IDFA, Doc Edge, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Go Short, Busan International Short Film Festival, ZagrebDox, …) and has collected more than 20 awards.
Clara García Parra
Clara is a passionate cinephile who has lived, worked and traveled in the Balkans. Her love of cinema started at a young age, when her mother organized weekly cinema sessions at home where the family watched all the classics – starting with Hithcock and Lubitsch, and graduating to Fritz Lang and Ida Lupino as time went by. At university, when studying political science, Clara found the only course there was that dealt with cinema (a retrospective of Stanley Kubrick’s work) and gained a deep understanding of the director’s work.
She appreciates all genres, but prefers to avoid watching horror films.
elias mazloum
Serial entrepreneur, traveler in the last 15 years between 3 continents and more than 50 countries, currently based in Albania since January 2017, carrying over 20 years of international working experience, Co-Founder of Social Development Investment, Scouts and Destination Management Albania, and The Gjallica International Festival.
Extensive experience in project management and implementation of donor financed TA projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Europe; Strong communication skills, and perfect link between stakeholders; Very good understanding of circular economy, micro lending and value chain finance, incl. setting up effective operations and structures as well as designing processes and procedures; Excellent experience in micro-insurance field from planning to institutionalizing (including market research, product development, pilot implementation, formalization); Supervised/ implemented various financial literacy/ inclusion projects, for MFI’s employees and clients; Dedicated expertise in secondary skills such as workshop facilitation. Implementing Since 2019 innovative business model to support Business Development for MSME’s benefiting 500 micro entrepreneurs in rural areas in global level
Lutfi Dervishi
Lutfi Dervishi is a lecturer at the University of Tirana, teaching Investigative Journalism at the Journalism Department and trainer to Albanian Media Institute.
He has been working previously as news director to Public Television and “Vision +”
Mr Dervishi has been working as Executive Director of Transparency International Albania. 2008-2013.
His training activities include: journalism, communication, public speaking, transparency, media ethics,
Mr Dervishi is known as a public speaker and has delivered keynote speeches to many conferences and universities in Tirana and abroad.
Dervishi is also very experienced in journalism as a political commentator of the main TV stations in Albania. With 25 years of experience in the media, he also has extensive practice in print, broadcast and social media. Mr Dervishi is also the contributing editor to the Tirana Times Newspaper.
Beti Njuma
Albanian broadcast journalist and news anchor fort RTV ORA, based in Tirana. She is currently the host of Beti’s Hour on Tuesday and the host of the Newsroom every day from 20.00-21.00. Ms Njuma previously anchored and worked as a journalist in Top Channel, TV Klan and Vizion +. During her work she provided breaking news coverage, feature reports and documentaries . Team member of a project organized by the Media Diversity Institute, London, the Center for War, Peace and Media, New York, and the Albanian Institute of Media, publishing a series of articles on human trafficking. Journalist at the National Radio of Albania Radio Tirana, “Vizion+” TV KLAN, “Top Channel”, and present host of Beti’s Hour at RTVORA.
For more than 10 years now, she has been preparing and presenting “The book window”, one of the most influential TV programs, fully dedicated to literature. She started professionally translating in 2012 and since then, she has worked with several Albanian publishers, with a translation list that is getting longer by the day. The Agency has already positively evaluated her biography in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
gjergj bojaxhi
Gjergj Bojaxhi is currently the CEO at a local brokering company in Tirana, Albania. In the past he worked as Risk Management Analyst in NYC, as a consultant at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC, Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade and Energy in Albania, Director of KESH, the public electricity company in Albania, as well as Chief Inspector of Urban/Territorial Inspectorate.
Mr. Bojaxhi is an active member of civil society in Albania, particularly in the areas of Cultural Heritage and Environment.
He is a co-founder of Project Rrenjet.
In 2015 he run in the local elections as an independent candidate for Mayor of Tirana. He is an avid mountain climber and was the Team Leader of the first Albanian team to climb Mt. Everest in 2012.
He participates often in public discussion in Albania in the area of Economy, Environment, Politics and Cultural Heritage.
erjon uka
Erjon Uka is a PR and Marketing expert, currently Advisor to the Minister of Tourism and Environment of Albania for Media and Communication. Graduated in Business Administration and Marketing, he has experience in public and private institutions, leading marketing and public communication campaigns. He is a columnist and translator in several media in Albania, as well as a university professor in marketing programs.
Roden HOXHA
Executive Director of the Albanian Center for Quality Journalism. Prior to his engagement with the ACQJ, he was the Albanian State Solicitor’s Permanent Representative to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. He is a frequent contributor to the works of the Albanian Media Institute and associated media organizations, and a Human Rights, Constitutional and Public Law lecturer at the University of New York Tirana.