Artists in residence

Erenik Beqiri studied at the Academy of Arts, Tirana where he graduated with a Master degree in Film Directing. His thesis was Seed Money, a short film written by Jim Uhls (Fight Club).

He has participated in the Sarajevo Talent Campus as a screenwriter, where he developed the short script Reverse which was produced a year later for the Sarajevo City of Film. Reverse collected awards for best film at the Drama International Short Film Festival and Cinematic Achievement award at Thessaloniki International Short Film Festival.

In 2013 he wrote and directed the short film Alphonso which screened in festivals such as Vancouver International Film Festival and Brussels ISFF, among others. His next short film Bon Appétit was nominated for Méliès D’Argent at Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival and was also selected in Haapsalu, Dokufest, Lund and many more.

His lastest short film The Van was the first Albanian film to be in the official competition in Cannes Film Festival and many others like Melbourne International Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival. The film is also one of the ten films shortlisted for the Oscar 2021 The Best Live-Action Shorts.

His feature film project After Dark was part of Meditalent, Torino ScritptLab, and the first Albanian project to be selected for the Cinéfondation Residence of Cannes Film Festival.

Erenik Beqiri films’ showcase the inner struggles of the characters as they confront the socio-political space they inhabit, ultimately coming down to unsettling decisions that define them as comic, tragic or grotesque portraits of society.

Julien Béramis is a multidisciplinary artist. For him, theater is an essential space of exploration, instilling in him the discipline necessary to achieve total freedom of expression. He has notably performed in works such as Les Nègres by Jean Genet, Venus Hottentot by Suzan-Lori Parks, and Caligula by Albert Camus.

Cinema also offers him the opportunity to refine his art through films like Paris, je t’aime, Omar m’a tuer, Les Derniers jours du monde, Le Rêve Français, as well as the series Tropiques Criminels.

Over time, his engagement in dance, writing Vìré, filmmaking Atopias: The Homeless Wanderer, and music LÊG has not only broadened his creative horizon but also deepened his understanding and perception of the world. Originally from and residing in Guadeloupe, Julien is particularly inspired by the collective memories that connect the island’s inhabitants to their volcanic landscape, a place teeming with complex and deeply rooted stories.

By exploring these Caribbean narratives and mythologies through artistic expression, Julien Béramis seeks to summon and reclaim these missing fragments of memory, reinterpreting them in our contemporary world to better understand our relationship to it. His work aspires to transcend cultural specificities, demonstrating that rooting oneself in a local identity can serve as a bridge to a broader and more universal understanding of the world.