Albanian communist dictatorship through a love story

The duties of honorary consuls include, in addition to advising representatives of industry and trade, the dissemination of the image of today’s Albania abroad. The film “Unfinished Portrait” directed by Namik Ajazi and written by Selami Pulaha, tells the story of the forbidden love of an Albanian boy with the daughter of the Italian ambassador in the ’80s in Tirana isolated during the rule of the communist dictatorship. Why the honorary consul chose for this activity a film that deals with a story from the communist past of Albania.

Event organizers (from left to right): Ralph Fürther from THR3 Winters, Dr. Jonela Hoxhaj, Prof. Wolfram Winter, Dr. Stefano Dangel

I want to start the answer to this question with a striking expression of the world-famous Japanese designer, Yohji Yamamoto: “With my eyes turned to the past, I walk backwards into the future”. And the more time passes, the clearer it becomes to me how important the recent past of a nation is, both in the personal plan to understand and confront itself, as well as in the international plan in relations with other countries. and aspirations to move forward. ” – says Consul Jonela Hoxhaj.

Dictatorship and repression of free thought universal theme

According to her, “Dictatorship, isolation, repression or annihilation of free thought, are universal topics, which not only should not be forgotten, but on the contrary. are more current than ever. Many Albanian developments of recent years, both positive and negative, the world can not understand without knowing at all this almost 50-year part of our history, which is often overlooked in local reports and documentaries on Albania. And no one can do it better than we, who experienced that time. “

Director Namik Ajazi (middle), Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of Albania, Meri Kumbe and organizers of the premiere

The director of the film, Namik Ajazi, has worked before with the screenwriter Ruzhdi Pulaha in the treatment of the themes of the ’80s, e.g. for the movie “Amanet”. The limitations of the dictatorship extended to every corner of life in Albania, down to the intimate sphere of love. “Daring to flirt with a stranger at the time was like committing suicide with what the consequences would be.” – says Namik Ajazi.

The dictatorship controlled every corner of life in Albania

There were some forbidden love stories of that time, which were then whispered in a low voice and then distributed loudly by the regime’s speakers to show the “end” of those who had dared to cross the red line set by the communist regime. ” For the film its authors consulted the files of the former State Security and despite the differences the seven stories had one thing in common: the same ending with multi-year sentences in labor camps. The screenplay of the film focused on one of the most painful cases of those years, but it also blends elements from other stories.

Even the director Namik Ajazi thinks that “we still need films, to revoke that difficult time to the absurd, as the generations that are growing involved in the unbridled pace of today, with the innovations and evolution of the means of communication, little comes information about that distant and near time at the same time.

Finding sleep from past ventures extremely difficult

Making a film for the ’80s in Albania is a very difficult undertaking, because the minimal budgets offered by the cinema do not promise the construction of interiors in professional studios and the use of special visual effects. To fill these gaps, director Ajazi collaborated for several months with the film’s scenographer, Fatbardh Marku, to find the few environments that have been preserved and evoke that time. To complete the images of Tirana, which is no more, a specialized studio worked in Italy for special visual effects, which in professional language are called VKF, which processed for the film sequences shot at that time. “It did the film good, it brought us and the spectators the nostalgia of the former city, and this is another element that young people lack and the film makes it possible.” – says the film director Namik Ajazi.

Scene from the film premiere in Frankfurt on the Main

Antonio Kodrinaj, who plays the main character of the film, did not live that time himself. He went to Italy at the age of seven, where he also studied and lives. After receiving the script he says he was thrilled and felt that it was the role he could play. To prepare for the role, he says that “following the path set by the director, I read some books and saw many movies, which showed that time.” The role, says Antonio, was not easy, but “the actor has to get into everyone’s skin and bring it as believable and emotional as possible. And the professional staff, the spirit of cooperation throughout the filming, made my character easy.

After the premiere in Frankfurt on Main, the Albanian-Italian co-production “Unfinished Portrait”, which won the award for “Best Feature Film” at the 21st edition of the Independent Days Film Festival in Kalsruhe, Germany, is continuing to be shown in cinemas with Frankfurt tradition “Orfeo’s Erben” ./ DW

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