Newborn Kosova captures Kosovo at the moment it stepped onto the world stage: the declaration of independence after years of war, international administration and political uncertainty. For Kosovars, it was the day they had waited for since 1999, when NATO’s intervention ended Serbia’s campaign of repression and opened the way for liberation.
For Eki Rrahmani, a Kosovan filmmaker and People & Power producer who had been documenting Kosovo since NATO’s intervention, the film was not simply another international current-affairs story. It was personal. His long engagement with Kosovo — especially through the village of Çabër/Cabra in the north — gave the film a perspective rooted in memory, survival and the lived experience of a country emerging from war.
Produced and directed by Eki Rrahmani on a tight deadline, the film aired just three days after Kosovo declared independence. The People & Power team was in Pristina as history unfolded, capturing the euphoria, uncertainty and symbolism of a new state being born.
Through Rrahmani’s personal contacts and deep knowledge of the country, the film gained rare access to the people shaping the moment — from political leaders and diplomats to the artist behind the iconic NEWBORN monument. The team also put a direct question to Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, bringing the country’s hopes and unresolved challenges into sharp focus.
Presented by Samah El-Shahat, Newborn Kosova examines the promise and fragility of independence: the joy of liberation, the weakness of the economy, the challenges of state-building, and the unresolved tensions that would continue to shape Kosovo’s future.
Part witness account, part political examination, the film asks what it really means to build a country from the ruins of conflict — and whether Kosovo could turn the dream of freedom into a functioning, secure and internationally recognised state.
