Kelmend Karuni

Kelmend Karuni is an Albanian/Canadian filmmaker. 

His father, Ferdinand Karuni, was a documentary cinematographer.

He has graduated in film directing from the Academy of Arts in Tirana, his mentor being the late director Gjergj Xhuvani. 

Kelmend has been selected in Berlinale (2010) and Sarajevo (2008) Talent campuses and was awarded a Sarajevo City of Film production award resulted in the short film "Frigidance", shot in Sarajevo and premiered during the Sarajevo Film Festival in 2010.

He has written, shot and directed many documentaries aired in national televisions and selected in festivals (like "Mysteries of Xhubleta", "Homophobia", "Sybyls of our times", "Silent gates of hell", "Bet Obey", "Vlora trilogy", etc). 

He has directed and written independent features (as "Pijanece te ajrit t'eger", "Ne"), both produced with Sirea Film, and shorts (as "Frigidance", "Scorcher heat", "Come back", "Brown hair, blue eyes, red shirt" etc) screened in national cinemas and selected in festivals. 

Kelmend now lives and works between Toronto, Canada and Tirana, Albania.