
I Believe the Portrait Saved Me
Twenty-five years after being captured while trying to flee Kosovo, painter Skender Muja recalls the day a Serbian commander gave him an ultimatum: draw his portrait, and be spared. Narrated by Muja himself, the film moves between his hand at work and the fear on the faces of the men held with him, as a single sketch becomes the difference between survival and everything else.
Festivals, Awards & Nominations
- 2025World Premiere — Berlinale, Forum Expanded
- 202531st Sarajevo Film Festival — Official Competition
- 2025Go Short — International Short Film Festival Nijmegen, Netherlands
- 2025Vienna Shorts, Austria
- 2025Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, Germany — Selected
- 2025Dokufest, Prizren, Kosovo — Official Selection
- 2025Reykjavík International Film Festival, Iceland — Official Selection
- 2025Bali International Film Festival, Indonesia
- 2025Cinemed — Montpellier International Mediterranean Film Festival, France
- 2025Passaggi d'Autore, Sant'Antioco, Italy
- 2025PriMed — International Festival of Mediterranean Documentary Film, Marseille, France
- 2025Kortfilm Festival, Leuven, Belgium
- 2025FIPADOC, Biarritz, France
- 2025SEEfest, Los Angeles, USA
- 2025Millennium Docs Against Gravity, Warsaw, Poland
- 2025Nominee, European Film Award — European Short Film
Cast & Crew
- Narrator: Skender Muja
- Producer: Edon Rizvanolli · Line Producer: Albana Muja
- Camera: Samir Karahoda · Editing: Enis Saraçi
- Sound Recording: Labinot Krasniqi · Studio Recording & Audio Mix: Pëllumb Ballata
- Produced by 038 Studio, in co-production with Asfalt Films, supported by the Kosovo Cinematography Center