About Colored Films

Our journey begins in Albania.

Two sisters, four films, and a name taken from the first films we ever saw in color.

Shkodër, Albania

A childhood with almost no television

Growing up in communist Albania, Greta and Vilma lived in a world where television was a rare privilege. Until the age of seven there was no TV at home. A black-and-white set only arrived if you were lucky in the state lottery.

Even then, programming was sparse: one state channel, TVSH, on the air from 6 PM to 10 PM.

As communism in Eastern Europe began to collapse, a different world came into view. Their aunt received a color TV through her husband’s relatives in ex-Yugoslavia, and suddenly RAI from Italy and Yugoslavian channels were in the next room.

Every visit to their aunt’s house became an event, a chance to watch filmat me ngjyra, films in color. That feeling never left them, and it gave the company its name.

Each color is a genre, a mood, a way to reach people.

Greta and Vilma as children with their doll in a park in Shkodër, Albania

Greta and Vilma as children in a park in Shkodër, Albania

Greta and Vilma as children on the swings at a playground in Shkodër, Albania

Greta and Vilma growing up in Shkodër, Albania

Actress · Writer · Producer

Greta Zenelaj IMDb

Leads on camera in all four of our films, and won Best Actress at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival for In The Woods. She co-directed Residuum, and hosts Verses with Greta.

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Director · Producer · Writer

Vilma Zenelaj IMDb

Directed What Do I Do Now?, In The Woods and Shqipe/Eagle, and co-directed Residuum with Greta. The two of them wrote all four films together.

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Where to find us

Colored Films posts the films and a carousel for every lesson. Vilma and Greta each record their own version of the lesson on their accounts.

Our work has been featured in

As featured in: New York Business Journal, Los Angeles Times, Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle

The work · 2010 to 2026

Four films, made as the tools got cheaper

In Los Angeles they started out helping friends on independent films, learning every part of production. When digital cameras arrived, the barrier dropped. Everything felt possible, so they started Colored Films and began making their own.

2010 · Dark comedy · Our first film
What Do I Do Now?
Claudia juggles an upcoming exam with an unexpected crisis involving an Arabian sheik. The quirky humor and chaotic energy set the tone for everything after.
Best Comedy, New York International Independent Film & Video Festival
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2011 · Thriller · Angeles National Forest
In The Woods
A couple's getaway turns into a fight for survival when they meet a reckless hunter deep in the wilderness. Shot with a small crew.
Best Feature, Detroit Windsor International Film Festival · Silver Ace Award, Las Vegas Film Festival · Best Actress for Greta, New York International Independent Film & Video Festival
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2014 · Drama thriller · Shot in Shkodër
Shqipe/Eagle
Helen, a single mother, flees post-communist Albania for a better future and gets caught in a dark web of espionage and human trafficking in the Albanian-American community of Detroit. Filmed in our hometown, the most personal of the four.
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2025 · Dystopian thriller · Our most ambitious yet
Residuum
Zoe, a grieving loner, escapes into the desert to avoid government control, then uncovers a truth about global disappearances that may point to prophecy. Conspiracy, faith and survival.
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