Antoneta Kastrati
Directing
Biography
Antoneta Kastrati is Kosovo-born writer, director and producer now based in Los Angeles. She is part of the Kosovo New Wave – the first generation of female directors in the country. After surviving the war in the late 1990s, she began making documentary films together with her sister Sevdije, that addressed unexplored issues of post-war society. She was one of eight female directors selected for the Directing Workshop for Women at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Her thesis short film SHE COMES IN SPRING (2013) premiered at Busan International Film Festival and went on to garner several awards. Her debut feature film, ZANA (2019), premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated as Kosovo’s entry for the 2020 Oscars. Antoneta was selected as Sydney Film Festival & EFP’s 2020 European women filmmakers to watch. Antoneta is known for her unique filmmaking style, combining gritty authenticity with lyrical beauty.
Known For
Haunted by her long-suppressed past and pressured by family to seek treatment from mystical healers for her infertility, a Kosovar woman struggles to reconcile the expectations of motherhood with a legacy of wartime brutality.
Zana
A young Air Force drone pilot struggles to cope with the daily commute between his suburban family life in America and the war he fights by remote control.
Unmanned
Three former college buddies who reunite for a backpacking trip on Mount Shasta to heal old wounds and improve their mental health. The weekend descends into madness and a quest for alien contact after one of them introduces hallucinogens into the mix.
The Lemurian Candidate
In this touching and humorous documentary, four Kosovar couples share how they deal with chores, child raising, freedoms and infidelity. How have roles changed and what are the limits to modernity in the sacred union of marriage?
Weddings and Diapers
Set amidst the Kosova War in 1999, a teenage girl seeks refuge from a village massacre in a mountain cave, sharing a surreal reunion when her older sister. Inspired by true events.
Lullaby
A story about a mountain man and his struggle to save the forests of the Rugova Mountain from over-logging and environmental destruction. As we learn the stories of his youth, growing up in those mountains with his brother, we begin to understand the history behind Fatos’ frustration.