Hey there Mana fans,

we just got back from DokuFest in Kosovo and it was quite a ride! It looks like Prizren, the city where the festival took place, is a popular summer destination for teenagers looking to party until the wee hours of the morning! The good news is that, although we didn’t exactly fit this demographic, the festival was quite fun and we got to screen “Mana” at some very interesting venues. Our first night was at Kino ne Lum, a temporary open-air cinema balancing on stilts that’s built right inside the river bed! Incredible but true!

We had a lovely, well-attended screening and since the movie theater has open access from all sides, we got a bunch of passers-by who stopped to check out the film and ended up watching the whole thing from the bridge! We were told that this venue is temporary and gets dismantled every year after the festival is over. Another interesting fact is that Kino ne Lum gets pushed further down the river, as the party crowds have started getting a little two rowdy for uninterrupted movie-watching.

Our second screening was two days later at a very obscure venue called        Kino    Klubi that somewhat cave-like but has super comfy sofas and was a  real haven  away from the summer heat. Perhaps a little too comfortable,  as we discovered  someone sleeping soundly at the back – he didn’t even  wake up during the lively  Q&A session with Valerie! Another venue we  won’t be forgetting in a hurry was  Kino Kalaja, which was attached to the  side of the castle. A really killer to reach  but once you got up there, the  viewing experience was truly magnificent – not to  mention the view! We  managed to catch 2 films there, “Into The Wild” by Ron  Lamothe and  Democrats by Camilla Nielsson, both worth the steep hike uphill!

All in all, DokuFest was a positive experience, we got some interest from the Ukraine and The Netherlands (stay tuned for more news) and got a glimpse into a culture we knew very little about. The festival staff was super helpful and the festival T-shirts rocked! We can’t wait to see where the “Mana” festival adventure will take us next…

For more DokuFest pics, please visit our Facebook page!