Rafaela Prifti: Interesting Facts about Albanian Film Festival Fan Noli 2025
The 2025 Albanian Film Festival Fan Noli is showing high-quality movies and other film genres at the historic seat of the Albanian Orthodox Church in America, Saint George Cathedral, Boston, from 19 to 22 of June.
Studio 90 productions of Bujar Alimani and the Fan Noli Cultural Center&Library team have been refining every detail for months starting with the movie selections, updating the website to accommodating guests who are flying in from across the ocean and everything in between.
The 2025 Albanian Film Festival Fan Noli honors the 50th anniversary of Albania’s Film Animation. Thursday night, after the opening ceremony, the very first short animation Zana dhe Miri and the full length animation Pika e Ujit (Water Droplet) are the groundbreaking productions that paved the way for future generations. A classic animation like Ujku dhe Lopa (The Wolf and The Ox) will take you back to your childhood days while also present an opportunity to appreciate its message and artistry once more. Why not bring your family and kids for a brief stop at the auditorium on Saturday? For showtimes and the lineup please click the link https://fannoliculturalcenter.org/albanian-film-festival-4
A lot more is in store for filmmakers, movie aficionados and audience members. The movies produced in Albania, Kosova and North Macedonia are all presented under the Festival’s banner: Three nights – Many Visions, One Language, One Nation, One Mission.
CELEBRATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS, TALKS AND MORE
The 2025 Albanian Film Festival Fan Noli celebrates and honors the stars that left us this year: Pirro Milkani (1939-2025) a major figure in Albanian cinema, film director and mentor, Margarita Xhepa (1932-2025) one of the greatest ladies of Albanian cinema and theater.
Celebrities of the Albanian cinema on and off the screen at the Festival include but are not limited to: Lisa Xhuvani, successful actress with an illustrious career in theater and film, Luan Rama, a notable Albanian author, screenwriter, editor and researcher. Come to talk to them and mingle for the duration of the festival, or attend talks and side events that are happening throughout the weekend.
For those of us with a penchant for history, there is a US documentary premiere on Friday Ode to Unforgotten Temples in memory of the Cham community victims and survivors of the genocide perpetrated by Greek nationalists (spanning several months in 1944 – 1945), watch the feature film Dancing with Shadows inspired by a true story that occurred in communist Albania or come Saturday for the screening of the documentary Kept Promise that brings a fresh perspective of the Albanian rescue of Jewish population during WW2.
After hours you can join the artists for conversations and exchanges of ideas that could perhaps result into film projects that could be shown in the next edition of the Festival. That’s the magic of the movies!
Let your voice be heard by casting your vote as a member of the audience in the People’s CHOICE AWARD, or as a representative of your organization by voting your pick from 19 to 22 of June.
Why it matters? The Festival is about us! Whether in Albania or America, the movies you grew up with have shaped who you are today in more ways than one. We experienced compassion, love, heartbreak and even learned movie lines and language from the movies. By the way, all movies are in Albanian and have English subtitles.
Yes, Albanian Film Festival Fan Noli is more about you and how we show we are present as a community in the country where we live, bring up our children and build our future together.
What is the impact? Albanians Fighting Cancer USA (AFC), Laberia, Gocat e Bostonit, Albanian American Bar Association, Vatra Boston, Albanian American Women Organization Motrat Qiriazi Florida Chapter, Çunat e Bostonit, St. Mary’s Church, Harvard’s Albanians, the Waterbury Mosque, Vatra Adult Day Care (the list to be updated in the coming days) are helping out by sponsoring, coordinating, advertising, purchasing tables or presenting awards at the Gala Night on Saturday at Leo’s restaurant in Braintree https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/albanian-film-festival-2025-gala-june-21–2025
Where do the proceeds go? Towards Fan Noli Cultural Center & Library https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576212391077&__tn__=%3C%3C*F to help preserve and promote Albanian culture, language and identity in the Greater Boston area and beyond. And Albanians Fighting Cancer USA (AFC) https://albaniansfightingcancer.org/ the leading advocate of the community for cancer prevention and treatment, to help deliver medical equipment to hospitals back home as well as support life-saving research.
Come experience the power of a Festival that puts you at the center of it!