Iris Elezi is an award-winning Albanian filmmaker, curator, and archivist working at the intersection of cinema, cultural memory, and spatial practice. Her feature debut, “BOTA”, received 18 international awards, represented Albania in the 89th Academy Awards race, and was selected by Sight & Sound as one of the Best Films of 2018.

She graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and is the founder and director of the Albanian Cinematheque, an independent platform dedicated to film heritage, audience engagement, and interdisciplinary education. As a producer, she has developed numerous independent film and cultural projects, collaborating with international institutions, including the EYE Filmmuseum and the BFI.

Since the early 2000s, she has been teaching and mentoring in higher education and professional programs in the Balkans and the US. As a producer and mentor for the DokuFest program “Stories We Tell – Human Rights Film Factory”, she oversaw the development of 11 short documentary films by young Balkan filmmakers, from conception to production and international distribution. The films have been screened at more than 30 international festivals.