Blerta Basholli
Blerta Basholli is a Kosovan filmmaker whose debut feature Hive (2021) made history at the Sundance Film Festival by becoming the first film ever to sweep the Grand Jury Prize, the Audience Award, and the Directing Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Sixteen when the Kosovo War broke out, she has described her work as shaped by both that experience and her father's love of westerns and wide landscapes. Hive is based on the true story of Fahrije Hoti, a woman whose husband disappeared in the war and who supports her family and a collective of war widows by making and selling ajvar, the traditional red pepper relish. The film was Kosovo's submission for the Best International Feature Film Academy Award and confirmed Basholli as a leading voice in the new Kosovan cinema.