Laura Halilovic, a young, aspiring Romani director, was born in 1989 in Piemont, Italy, to a Romani family who originally came from Bosnia-Herzegovina. Her family moved from ex-Yugoslavia to Italy at the end of 1960s. Since January 2007, she has been collaborating as an assistant director with the activities of the Cultural Centre for Communication and Media in Turin. She has primarily worked on a project named ITER (Institution for a Responsible Education), which was set up by the Department of Educational Services. She received well-deserved praise for her hard work and won the 2007 edition of the Under-18 Film Festival for her short film, Illusion. The film was also broadcast on TV station Rai 3. After her first short film, she focused on another genre with Me, My Gipsy Family and Woody Allen, her first documentary film based on autobiographical details. Later, having acquired the experience of directing several films, Halilovic’s attention turned to feature-length films, with Io rom Romantica completed in 2014.

References

http://arhiva.zagrebfilmfestival.com/arhiva/2010/index_en.php?page=d0&iz=fpf&fid=49654&lang=en

Filmography / Awards

2007 Illusion

2009 My Dream

2009 Me, My Gipsy Family and Woody Allen, Rolling Film Festival, Audience Award

Visioni Fuori Raccordo Film Festival, Best Documentary

Bellaria Film Festival, Jury Mention, Ucca Prize

One World Festival, Kosovo, Best International Documentary Award

Monte-Carlo Television Festival, Grand Prix for Author’s Documentary

Crans Festival, Crans d’or in the feature-lenght section

Martini Award, Cinema Against Racism Award, Special Jury Mention

2014 Io Rom Romantica, awarded second prize at the 7th Mantova Film Festival