Prizren’s annual international documentary film festival got underway on Friday evening, inviting filmmakers and festival goers at the Lumbardhi outdoor cinema in Kosovo’s southernmost city.

The opening ceremony began with a special screening of Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 experimental film Koyaanisqatsi, with live musical accompaniment from French composer/DJ group Radiomentale.

Dokufest will be screening films, hosting debates, panel discussions, workshops and Q&As over the next nine days in Prizren, with more than 280 films and 16 specially curated cinematic programs to be held across eight different cinemas.

The festival will be hosting another edition of Dokutech, inviting technology experts from both Kosovo and abroad share their experiences and present innovative ideas to Kosovo’s burgeoning tech community. 

“Dokutech will bring a diverse selection of speakers, people from all over the world whose ability to see things differently,utilizing tech for humanity, enabling them to make real changes at the intersection of technology, society, culture media and economy,” said the festival’s organizers.

Dokufest’s VR Cinema also opened on Friday, screening five short films available in virtual reality throughout the duration of the festival. “Viewers will be able to see and experience underwater choreographies in a fantastical visual journey, travel out Solar System and galaxies beyond the Milky Way,” they said. “In short, a real experience in a virtual world.”

The festival’s evening live musical program, Dokunights, opens on Friday with a performance from Kosovo-based music collective Bijat, who will present an all-women line up including Coucou Chloe, Shygirl, Galouche and Matale, bringing “venomous lyricism with tar-boiling industrial beats” to Dokufet’s main Andrra stage.