Story perspectives

“Dua” screens at Sarajevo after Cannes Critics’ Week debut

8/19/2026

Summary

Basholli Screens Sarajevo

Blerta Basholli’s drama “Dua” screened at Sarajevo Film Festival after its May Cannes Critics’ Week debut.
The story is set in 1990s Kosovo and follows 13-year-old Dua amid violence.
Basholli says the film is semi-autobiographical, noting scenes mirror her wartime experiences.
Pinea Matoshi was cast as Dua after Basholli and director Dafina Gjikolli auditioned 5,000 children.
Kosovo-Switzerland-France co-production is sold by Party Film Sales and distributed in Switzerland by Frenetic Films.

Summary

Basholli Flees

Basholli, her mother and brother fled Kosovo by train, spent five days in Macedonian refugee camps, and were airlifted to Germany.
In Germany they stayed in Braunschweig near Halle for four months until Kosovo’s liberation allowed their return and family reunion.
Father and two sisters in Prishtina were stopped by Miloševic’s forces, had their car stolen, and the father was briefly detained without cause.

History

Historical Context

In March 1999 NATO launched Operation Allied Force, a 78-day air campaign that forced Yugoslav forces out of Kosovo and triggered an exodus of roughly 850,000 Kosovo Albanians, many seeking refuge in Macedonia where the UN registered 350,000 arrivals. Director Blerta Basholli’s Cannes debut “Dua” revisits that displacement, linking the war’s humanitarian legacy to today’s cultural memory.

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Basholli Screens Sarajevo

Blerta Basholli’s drama “Dua” screened at Sarajevo Film Festival after its May Cannes Critics’ Week debut.
The story is set in 1990s Kosovo and follows 13-year-old Dua amid violence.
Basholli says the film is semi-autobiographical, noting scenes mirror her wartime experiences.
Pinea Matoshi was cast as Dua after Basholli and director Dafina Gjikolli auditioned 5,000 children.
Kosovo-Switzerland-France co-production is sold by Party Film Sales and distributed in Switzerland by Frenetic Films.

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