The Balkan Feature Films category features six powerful films that tell moving and dramatic stories of freedom, love and identity. With a mix of world, regional and local premieres, this category reflects the energy, diversity and spirit of Balkan cinema.
NGRYK by ILIRJAN HIMAJ, Kosovo/ Albania / World Premiere (107 min).
Agu, a keeper at a bear shelter, sees his world turned upside down one night when he visits his girlfriend. Lost and hopeless, he finds a new lease on life when Tina, a charming, dreamy young woman, magically appears in the apartment next door. Her aspirations to become a singer have landed her in the clutches of a ruthless statesman. Touched by her plight, Agu devises a plan to rescue Tina from the statesman's clutches, and together they escape into the wild. Like a bear and a doe, they seek freedom beyond the laws of man. However, a hunter with keen instincts pursues them. The boundaries between man and beast blur, and survival instincts take over.
EMILY by AJOLA DAJA, Albania/ Regional Premiere (72 min).
Brutally beaten by her abusive husband, Robert, Emily desperately tries to cross the Greek border with her young son, Oni, to escape the nightmare. But to obtain travel authorization, Emily must bravely confront her manipulative mother-in-law, Yllka, who will use any means possible to keep them trapped in Tirana.
THE PAVILION by DINO MUSTAFIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro/ Premiere (100 min).
After years of abuse and humiliation, a group of residents from the “Pavilion” nursing home decide to stage an armed uprising. Armed with illegal weapons, they take control of the institution, hold the staff hostage and enter into conflict with the authorities. Their desperate struggle turns into a media and political spectacle. Old age becomes their advantage – they have nothing to lose and are ready to go to the end. A new order arises within the “Pavilion”, driven by revenge and accumulated anger, making negotiation with the rebels impossible.
ETERNITY PACKAGE by MAGDELENA ILIEVA, Bulgaria, Italy/ Premiere (85 min).
“Eternity Package” is a darkly comic odyssey into the shattered life of Bobka, a hapless undertaker in a corrupt Bulgarian town where old grudges never die – they are simply passed on. Bobka helps people move on to the next life, but he himself cannot get over the loss of his father years earlier. When Joanna – the faded diva who caused his father’s death in a hit-and-run accident – returns to town and shamelessly hires Bobka to organize a grand farewell for him, he is forced to confront the irony of giving back the dignity he had taken from him.
MAN OF THE HOUSE by ANDAMION MURATAJ, Albania, Italy, Austria, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia/ Premiere (104 min).
Fran, a woman who has chosen to live a single life as a man, following the tradition of Albanian Burrnesha. In order to become a mother to her orphaned granddaughter, Fran must make a difficult decision between maintaining her status as a “man” or giving up on him to reconnect with the deep feelings she had long repressed. When the time comes to move forward, the granddaughter’s own choice forces Fran to confront her deepest fears: to keep the child close or to give her arms to the young girl.
CYCLE by ERKAN TAHHUŞOĞLU, Turkey, Kosovo/ Regional Premiere (81 min).
Sevim, who lives with her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter in a poor neighborhood of Istanbul, has worked for many years as a daily cleaner in the house of a wealthy woman named Ayten. One day, Ayten's Kosovar caretaker, Lena, has an accident at home and this incident triggers legal issues between the parties. Sevim, forced to convince Lena under pressure from Ayten and her son, will be torn between class, moral and conscience contradictions.
PriFest is held from September 9 to 14, 2025 at Kino Armata in Pristina.
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