Ilir Hasanaj

Director

Ilir Hasanaj is a Kosovar-Swiss director, born in 1986 in Donji Streoc - Strellc I Ulët, Kosovo. He graduated in Film from the Zurich University of the Arts (Zürcher Hochschule der Künste).

He lives in both Pristina (Kosovo) and Basel (Switzerland) and works on films with social importance.

His documentary film TO WANT, TO NEED, TO LOVE (2017) had a successful run at international film festivals, including Toronto Hot Docs, Solothurn and Dokufest, where it won the Audience Award. His short film WORKERS' WINGS (2024) earned him the prestigious Tiger Award for Best Short at Rotterdam, as well as eight other awards and a very successful international festival run.

He is now in preproduction for his first feature film, with the working title A WORKER, about workplace accidents.

In 2018, he co-founded the alternative cinema Kino ARMATA to offer free access to alternative culture in a multifunctional space in the center of Pristina.

FILMOGRAPHY

Feature film

  • A WORKER (WT) (2028) – in preproduction

Short feature film

  • LEONARDO (2015)

Documentary film

  • THE BEAUTY OF THE DONKEY (2025) - producer

  • AS I WAS LOOKING ABOVE I COULD SEE MYSELF UNDERNEATH (2022)

  • TO WANT, TO NEED, TO LOVE (2017)

Short documentary film

  • WORKERS' WINGS (2024)