The three major international film festivals in Kosovo, the International Documentary and Short Film Festival – Dokufest, the International Film Festival in Prishtina – Prifilm Fest (PriFest), and the International Animation Festival – Anibar, will be held this summer as planned, on condition that organisers respect restrictions designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The decision to go ahead with the festivals was taken at a joint meeting of the three festival directors and the Kosovo Cinematographic Center, KCC. The Cinematographic Center said it would fully comply with government recommendations to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

During the last joint consultation between the organisers of the three festivals and the Cinematographic Center, they discussed ways of staging this year’s events in the new context created by the pandemic. 

An announcement from the KCC on Tuesday stated all three directors had expressed readiness for the festivals to proceed as planned. 

Vjosa Berisha, director of PriFest, which is due to be held in the capital Prishtina from July 14 to 19, said during the consultation meeting that the organisers discussed ways to adapt the festivals to the situation created by the pandemic.

“Some online activities will take place due to the difficulties we may encounter in bringing industry experts and professionals from other countries to Prishtina this year,” the KCC reported Berisha as saying. Berisha also suggested that some films might be “shown in open-air locations to avoid any danger from the virus.”

According to the KCC, Veton Nurkollari, the artistic director of Dokufest, stated that preparations were already underway to organise the 19th edition of the festival in Prizren in August. Meanwhile Arba Hatashi, director of Anibar, stated that his festival, which is scheduled to be held in Peja from July 13 to 19, was working to create conditions for the festival “to be at the service of the local, national and international community.”

So far, there have been 860 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kosovo of whom 533 have since recovered and 27 have died.

Starting from Monday, the government has introduced a three-step plan to ease the COVID-19 prevention measures, by extending the hours of free movement of people and allowing certain businesses, such as retail shops, take-away food businesses and construction companies, to reopen.