VERA FILMS IS A PRISHTINË | KOSOVË-BASED FILM COMPANY FOUNDED IN 2015 BY DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER KALTRINA KRASNIQI. WE’RE A TIGHT-KNIT TEAM DRIVEN BY THE URGE TO TELL BOLD STORIES. WE LIKE TO THINK OF OURSELVES AS CURIOUS, INCLUSIVE AND ATTUNED TO THE CONTRADICTIONS OF OUR TIME.
Kaltrina Krasniqi (1981) is an award winning Kosovo based filmmaker and researcher working in film and digital humanities since early 2000s. She is a founding member of Kosovo Oral History Initiative – a digital archive where personal histories of individuals from various paths of life are recorded and preserved and a founder of Vera Films, a film production company focused in emerging voices of cinema. Kaltrina graduated in Film Directing from the University of Prishtina in 2004, and in 2011, she earned her MA from the Kosovo Institute for Journalism and Communication. In 2015, she further advanced her expertise at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she specialized in Film Producing.
Her debut feature film “Vera Dreams of the Sea” premiered in the 78th Venice Film Festival and among many accolades was awarded Tokyo International Film Festival Grand Prix 2021 and Ingmar Bergman Award at Gothenburg Film Festival 2022. Currently she is in development of her second feature “Bleach” set to be released in 2026.
Ares Shporta (1991) is a programmer, producer and executive engaged with film, music and cultural policies. He has completed his BA in Business Administration and his MA in Cultural Management at the Istanbul Bilgi University. Following early engagements with DokuFest in industry related programs, in 2015, Shporta became the co-founding director of Lumbardhi Foundation, overseeing the spatial & institutional revival of Lumbardhi Cinema in Prizren as a film and music-based multi-purpose cultural institution. During his tenure, his particular focus was on fundraising, programming, regional & international networking and inter-institutional collaborations. The work with the foundation was recognized with the European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award in 2022. Apart from his institutional role, he produced Sarabande (2018) by Kaltrina Krasniqi and various moving images in the intersection of visual arts and music. In this period Shporta has also served in governing and advisory capacity to various media and arts organizations, networks, as well as innovation and development programs. He is currently a producer at Vera Films and executive director at Lumbardhi Foundation.
