June 29, 2026

DokuFest is pleased to announce the ten projects selected for the 2026 edition of the Short Film Forum, which will take place from 9–12 August 2026 in Prizren, as part of the festival's 25th edition.

The selection comes after a strong and competitive open call, which received 48 applications from five participating countries. The final ten projects represent Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Bulgaria, bringing together a mix of fiction, documentary, hybrid and animation projects at different stages of development and production.

This year's selection includes 4 projects from Kosovo, 2 from Albania, 2 from Bulgaria, 1 from North Macedonia and 1 from Montenegro. In terms of form, the programme includes 4 fiction films, 3 hybrid projects, 2 documentaries and 1 animation. Half of the selected projects are currently in development, while others are in pre-production, production or post-production.

“The selection committee really didn't have an easy job this year,” said Eroll Bilibani, Forum Co-Lead. “We received 48 applications, and the level was strong across the board. What is exciting about the final selection is not only the quality of the projects, but also the range of voices, countries, forms and subjects they bring into the room. These ten projects show how much energy there is around short film in the region. And during the Festival, we will also announce a new geographical expansion of the Forum, which is an important next step for us.”

Before arriving in Prizren, the selected teams will take part in two preparatory online meetings on 28 and 30 July 2026, led by the Forum Lead Mentor Martijn te Pas from euROPE doconsultancy. These sessions will introduce the structure of the Forum, support the teams in shaping their project presentations, and offer first feedback on pitch clarity, project needs and communication.

The in-person programme will begin on 9 August in Prizren. Over the following days, the selected filmmakers will take part in group and individual training sessions, project preparation, artistic and industry feedback, meetings strategy, closed sessions with film centres and funders, and a public DokuTalk on how short films travel through communication, co-production and industry networks. After this training process, the selected projects will be presented during the public pitching session on 12 August.

The Forum will present several monetary and industry awards, made possible through its partnerships and through the support of the Embassy of Sweden in Pristina and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports of the Republic of Kosovo.

This year, the Short Film Forum’s Country in Focus is Italy made possible through the partnership with the Italian Short Film Center and ShorTO Film Market. The programme will present Italian short film excellence within a growing regional market, while encouraging international co-productions and giving young Italian talents access to a focused network of international decision makers. In a less saturated context than many European markets, the Forum offers space for more direct exchange, practical meetings and new partnerships.

 

Selected Projects — Short Film Forum 2026

Projects from Kosovo

Për kë bien këmbanat?

Director: Erlisë Beqiri
Genre: Documentary
Stage: Production
Logline: A Catholic priest, the nuns, and the local villagers in Gllogjan-Peja recount the story of the church bells that rang for Ramadan meals during the Kosovo war.

“bitwixt” / “n'midis”

Director: Dita Xhaferi
Genre: Hybrid
Stage: Development
Logline: Caught between home and abroad, a young woman moves through family pressure, migration, and the quiet violence of not fully belonging to either world. The film follows her search for identity, dignity, and a sense of self in the unstable space between expectation and belonging.

Cicë!

Director: Finesa Peja
Genre: Animation
Stage: Pre-production
Logline: A young woman, who is harassed for her body by the men around her, finally decides to take revenge.

Pantallonat e Mia Janë Pantallonat Tuaja

Director: Durim Klaiqi
Genre: Hybrid
Stage: Development
Logline: A media-savvy mayor regularly livestreams to assure citizens that their problems are his problems. When a viewer asks if he is actually wearing pants, he becomes obsessed with proving that he does, providing endless explanations but never simply showing the truth.

 

Projects from Albania

Korridoret e Pritjes

Director: Adrian Guri
Genre: Fiction
Stage: Development
Logline: In the cold corridors of a pediatric hospital, two mothers wait as their children fight for life. Bound by fear and hope, they form a fragile connection in the face of the unknown.

Silent Return

Director: Dionis Prifti
Genre: Fiction
Stage: Pre-production
Logline: In communist Albania, for decades, leaving the country was forbidden: those who attempted to escape risked their lives and those of their families. But in 1986, one man was granted a rare authorization to visit his relatives in Greece for the first time. This is his story.

 

Project from North Macedonia

Karkaleca

Director: Hanis Bagashov
Genre: Fiction
Stage: Development
Logline: During her sister’s wedding, Nora, a 26-year-old autistic woman, accidentally kills a younger boy while defending herself from his sexual assault, forcing her to navigate trauma in the midst of family celebration.


Project from Montenegro

Kroz zube Ane i njene mame

Director: Đorđije Petrović
Genre: Fiction
Stage: Development
Logline: A failed actress with a rotten tooth can't satisfy her mother's cravings, so she escapes using a pair of household pliers.


Projects from Bulgaria

Les fissures

Director: Gogo Vanev
Genre: Documentary
Stage: Pre-production
Logline: Legend has it the Spirit of The Home is the reincarnation of a family member that passed away, so when I reopen our empty old village house, I look for traces of our past with the hope to reconnect.

The celebration of letters

Director: Ilina Perianova
Genre: Hybrid
Stage: Post-production
Logline: On May 24, 1986, while thousands of Bulgarian children celebrate the red letter day (24th of May) in a grand socialist parade, a seven-year-old girl unknowingly marches through the invisible fallout of Chernobyl – decades later, her fragmented childhood memory becomes an essay about radiation, silence, and the failure of language to speak the truth.


The Short Film Forum is organised in collaboration with the Kosovo Cinematography Center, the National Center of Cinematography of Albania, the North Macedonia Film Agency, the Film Centre of Montenegro and the Bulgarian National Film Center. The Forum partners include the Italian Short Film Center, ShorTO Film Market, the Documentary Association of Europe — DAE, Square Eyes, Yle and IKONË.

The Short Film Forum is supported through the Creative Force Programme, financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency — Sida and the Embassy of Sweden in Pristina, along with annual support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Kosovo.