Arta Dobroshi

Arta Dobroshi (born 2 October 1980) is a Kosovo-Albanian actress and producer. Dobroshi is the first Kosovan actress to walk the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival and be nominated for the European Film Award. Dobroshi is a former refugee and now a UN Champion and Goodwill Ambassador.

Early life
Arta Dobroshi was born in Pristina, to Kosovo Albanian parents. She has been studying the performing arts since elementary school and attended the Academy of Arts acting and drama course in Pristina for four years. She starred in many short films and theatre plays whilst a student there. When Arta was fifteen, she went on a student exchange program to North Carolina, where she starred in drama plays. Dobroshi has a strong work ethic, known to rehearse for a role eight hours or more a day. After her first year at the academy, the Kosovo War escalated and Dobroshi's grandparents were imprisoned by Serbian authorities for trying to open an Albanian-language university. When Serbian President Slobodan Milošević resigned in October 2000, Dobroshi quit her job at the refugee camp and became a translator for NATO.

Career
After the war period, she took roles in the local theaters and Albanian movies, as well as a leading role in the German-Albanian production Magic Eye (2005).

Lorna's Silence
While performing a play in Sarajevo, Dobroshi came into contact with Luc and Jean-Piere Dardenne who offered her an open casting in Kosovo for Lorna's Silence. Two weeks after the casting, Dobroshi was called up by the Dardenne brothers and was given the role, despite not speaking French.

Dobroshi came to international prominence in the Dardenne brothers' film Lorna's Silence in which she played the title role to great acclaim and received international media attention. The film was awarded in Cannes 2008. In the same year Dobroshi was nominated for her role, in the Best Actress category, at the European Film Awards and at the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2009.

Dobroshi received high praise from the film industry press:

"The radiant Dobroshi illuminates her physical and moral struggles with grit, conviction and a grace that shines all the more brightly amid the gloomy world from which it springs. Lorna may be lost, but here is an actress who, at every turn, knows exactly what she's doing."

- Variety (28 August 2008)

Baby
Dobroshi starred in the short film Baby by BAFTA winning director Daniel Mulloy. Baby won the Best Short Film Award when it premièred at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2010 and won Best International Short Film at Cork Film Festival. It was awarded the highly coveted Best Short Film Award at the British Independent Film Awards Best International Short Film at Flickerfest and will have its US premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2011. Dobroshi was awarded Best Actress for her role in Baby at the 24fps International Short Film Festival

Current works
Dobroshi has completed filming on Julie Gavras' Late Bloomers alongside William Hurt and Isabella Rossellini.

Dobroshi stars in Trois Mondes which had its première in the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

Dobroshi is working on Nëna, with her director from Baby, Daniel Mulloy. The film is set in Kosovo's capital Pristina.

Other work
Dobroshi was a jury member of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival.

On 22 December 2008, Dobroshi was appointed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a MDG Champion / Goodwill Ambassador for Kosovo. The UNDP were impressed by her previous charity work and believed that her high-profile would help raise awareness on issues.

Dobroshi won the 2017 BAFTA Film Award for producing the refugee film Home.

In 2016, Dobroshi was the lead in the acclaimed Massive Attack video Come Near Me.

Upon receiving the 2017 Gold Lion in Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Dobroshi broke protocol to give a powerful message to the world "I am Arta Dobroshi, my nationality is happy and I live in the city called earth".

Personal life
Dobroshi can speak Albanian, English, French, and can understand Macedonian.

Awards

 * Shooting Stars Award (2013) — at the Berlin International Film Festival
 * Berlin Film Festival (2013) — European Film Shooting Star by European Film Promotion
 * Women's International Film and Television Showcase LA 2012, Best Actress Award
 * European Film Award 2008, Nomination as Best Actress
 * Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2009, Nomination as Best Actress
 * Skopje International Film Festival, Best Actress