Press, interviews & festival coverage

Press

Critical Reception

"An unmistakable echo of De Niro or Pacino, without a trace of pathos."

Radar (Nova.rs), as Nuredin Doka in Obraz

"A commanding physicality and a deep internal struggle."

Gazettely, as Nuredin Doka in Obraz

Called his performance the most layered element of the film, and his talent as a director "promising."

NRC Handelsblad, as Zoran in T'padashtun

A masterful performance capturing the full emotional complexity of a man caught in the grip of war.

Le Matin, as Nuredin Doka in Obraz

A nuanced performance that makes an initially suspicious character grow steadily more sympathetic.

Tittelbach.tv, as Edin Landeka in Der Kroatien Krimi

Singled out his performance as one of the film's best and most charged, calling him a genuine multi-hyphenate talent for Dutch and Kosovar cinema alike.

Filmkrant, as Zoran in T'padashtun
All Coverage
Interview — 8 May 2026

Jehona Podcast

An extensive, personal conversation on how Edon helped put Kosovo on the map in international cinema.

Profile — 13 March 2026

Het Parool

Profile on Edon's first Dutch words, language, Amsterdam, and living between cultures.

Interview — 13 March 2026

BBC News na srpskom

Interview about Obraz, Edon's career, and why film can inspire an individual even if it cannot change the masses.

Festival — 6 March 2026

Telegraf

Coverage of the special Belgrade screening of Obraz, with standing ovations and a post-screening conversation with the film team.

Interview — 1 March 2026

Vijesti

Interview about playing Nur Doka in Obraz, honor, manipulation, war, and the human values at the center of the film.

Interview — 28 February 2026

Radar

Called one of the standout lead performances in current Balkan cinema, with Edon's restrained, unsentimental delivery drawing comparisons to Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.

Review — 6 December 2025

Gazettely

Singled out his performance as Nuredin as commanding and deeply conflicted, calling it the emotional anchor of the film.

Award — 2 December 2025

KALLXO

Report on Edon's Best Actor award in Spain for his role in Obraz at the Festival de Cine Independiente de Linares.

Award — 30 November 2025

Linares28

Festival palmarès: Obraz wins Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Actor for Edon Rizvanolli.

Award — 16 November 2025

Le Matin

Called his performance masterful, capturing the full emotional complexity of a man caught in the grip of war, in a film it named one of the festival's most memorable moments.

Interview — 6 October 2025

Pobjeda

Interview about the long production of Obraz, building the character Nur Doka from personal memory, and the need for humane heroes.

Award — 19 September 2025

KOHA

Montenegro selects Obraz (released in Albanian as Nderi) as its candidate for the International Feature Film Oscar race.

Review — 2 July 2025

Taxidrivers.it

Praised the dignity he brings to Nuredin Doka, a solid, reserved man who becomes the silent guardian of an ancient but deeply human code of honor.

Festival — 17 February 2025

KOHA

Report from the world premiere of I Believe the Portrait Saved Me at Berlinale's Forum Expanded, produced by Edon.

Interview — 19 October 2024

KTV

Television profile for KTV's "Nëpër Film," tracing more than two decades of Edon's journey as an actor.

Interview — 5 October 2023

The Nerd Shepherd

Interview on Moloch, working across Dutch television, and joining The Diplomat and Obraz.

Review — 29 April 2021

Tittelbach.tv

Praised his nuanced performance as a Bosnian police colleague in Der Kroatien Krimi, noting how it makes an initially suspicious character grow steadily more sympathetic.

Review — 2 May 2018

OFF Camera

A thoughtful review from the Kraków festival exploring the film's questions of identity, adaptation and forgiveness, calling it essential viewing for anyone taking part in debates about migration. Archived clipping — original page no longer live.

Festival — 9 February 2018

Santa Barbara Independent

Named T'padashtun (Unwanted) one of the festival's essential "Films to See," praising its deft pacing as it builds toward the source of its characters' inner pain.

Review — 27 October 2017

Nederlands Dagblad

Four-star review by Jaap-Harm de Jong, praising the film's restraint, noting how its power lies in small, unspoken gestures rather than grand statements, and how leaving its central question unanswered only makes the story linger longer.

Review — 26 October 2017

de Volkskrant

Three-star review calling it a sympathetic, entertaining debut that beautifully captures Amsterdam Noord, with charming courtship scenes between Alban and Ana. Archived clipping.

Review — 26 October 2017

Cinemagazine

A mixed but intriguing review, praising the film's sensitive handling of two generations shaped differently by war, and closing with a direct call to remember the name Edon Rizvanolli.

Review — 25 October 2017

NRC Handelsblad

A mixed review from critic Dana Linssen, critical of the film's structure, but calling Edon's performance the most layered element of the film and his talent as a director "promising." Archived clipping.

Review — 25 October 2017

Het Parool

Called it a clearly personal project, noting Edon wrote, directed, produced and edited the film himself and also played a crucial supporting role, with his own lived experience giving its treatment of war's aftermath its sharpness. Archived clipping.

Feature — 21 October 2017

Kosovo 2.0

Explored Edon's three years of research into wartime sexual violence and stigma behind the film, and praised how his debut avoids melodrama to unpack a delicate, uncomfortable story with real care.

Review — October 2017

VPRO Cinema

Called it an unadorned coming-of-age story about acceptance and rejection, praising how Edon makes palpable, with modest means, what it feels like to belong somewhere or to feel entirely misunderstood.

Interview — 22 September 2017

Filmkrant

Five-question interview at the Nederlands Film Festival on T'padashtun, exile, and integration.

Review — October 2017

Filmkrant

Called a late flashback devastatingly effective, and singled out Edon's performance as Zoran as one of the film's best and most charged, calling him a genuine multi-hyphenate talent for Dutch and Kosovar cinema alike.

Review — October 2017

Algemeen Dagblad

Three-star review calling it a film that lingers long afterward, with a closing note that cuts to the bone. Archived clipping — no longer live on ad.nl.

Review — 3 July 2017

Cineuropa

Praised his straightforward directorial approach, save for a crucial late flashback, and singled out how the visual and emotional contrast between Amsterdam and Pristina was built through Danny Noordanus's two distinct camera styles.

Interview — Karlovy Vary 2017

Cineuropa

Video interview with Edon at the 52nd Karlovy Vary IFF on T'padashtun (Unwanted), in the East of the West Competition.