Anila Balla

Anila Balla was born in the 23d December of 1987 in Tirana, Albania. She graduated in the Academy of Arts for Theater and also holds a master degree from the University of Tirana in Literary Criticism and Theory. She is a producer, scriptwriter and stage director.

She started her career as a stage director, producing experimental and informal shows, for the marginalized audience of the outskirts of Tirana. Through the years, Anila and actors managed to tour their plays in different cities of Albania, always with the mission to reach for the oppressed. A few of the shows staged: "The bold soprano" by Eugene Ionesco, "The accidental death of an anarchist" by Dario Fo (both shows were included in the festival against the demolition of the National Theatre), "Rape" by Franca Rame, "An enemy of the people" by Henrik Ibsen.

In order to have more independence in a sector where a selected few people seem to set the rules and design the game on their own terms, she launched "Kaçak", a film production company, in the year 2018. "Kaçak"'s mission is consequently intimately connected to artistic freedom, cultural and political awareness, the support of innovative projects, and the growth of robust communities. in the same year, the Albanian National Film Center supported her debut short film as a producer, "The news" a movie that won the best short film prize at the Sydney, Australia, Flickerfest, going to many film festivals, such as Busan International Film Festival, and was an EFA candidate.

In the harsh cinematographic environment of Albania, "Kaçak" is struggling to survive. Now, Anila is working to develop her first feature film. Her strategy in building her knowledge and network is to participate in different training, workshops and other engaging platforms. She is currently following the training "Women in Audiovisual" from Erich Pommer Institut and from the year 2023, she is an EFA member. She is also a EWA (European Women in Audiovisual) member.

Working from the theatre to the film set, changing many hats, and living in Albania, where the audiovisual sector is challenging with limited resources, Anila holds onto the belief that meaningful change can only occur through collective effort. The need for unity and collaboration, must unite talents, resources and aspirations of the industry to overcome the obstacles.