Tirana Times
TIRANA, July 27 – Albania will participate with two documentaries and one short film in this year’s 9th edition of Dukufest scheduled to be held in Kosovo town of Prizren from July 31 to August 7.
Albania’s two documentaries will be screened in the national competition category along with other Kosovo documentaries. No films are participating in international or Balkan documentary section.
The first documentary is “Concrete Mushrooms,” an Italian-Kosovo-Albanian co-production directed by Elian Stefa and Gyler Mydyti.
The 25-minute investigative report explores the evolution and history of the bunkers, recounted by Albanians who dealt with and lived during the period the bunkers were being built. It also deals with the current state of these structures and the coexistence between them and the residents of Albania. The project revolves around the 750,000 bunkers left over from the communist era of Albania.
“Can bunkers of Albania, once symbol of Communist past, be turned into touristic sites? The Concrete Mushrooms Project is an initiative started by two graduate students at the Polytechnic of Milan’s Landscape Architecture department to prove it can,” said the festival’s organizers on their website. Meanwhile, another documentary participating in the same category is “Childhood held hostage” directed by Donika Mustafaj, which will be screened on August 4.
“This film questions just how much can children from rich families have a flourishing childhood. Through the last twenty years in Albania a rich class of the society has developed, which represents the success of the economy of the free market,” says the film review.
Albania is also participating in the international short film category with Tsunami, a film directed by Shaqir Veseli. Tsunami represents an enormous force able to destroy nature, as intrigues destroy the human conscience.
Dokufest
Dokufest, the International Documentary and Short Film Festival, is the largest film event in Kosova. The Festival is organized in August in the picturesque and historical town of Prizren which attracts numerous international and regional artists.
In this annually organized festival films are screened twice a day in two open air cinemas as well as in two regular cinemas. Except for its films, the festival is also well-known for lively nights after the screening. Various events happen within the scope of the festival: workshops, DokuPhoto exhibitions, festival camping, concerts, which altogether turn the city into a charming place to be.
The festival will present 156 films representing 34 countries, selected from more than 1300 submissions. In addition to this number, DokuKids, children and youth section of DokuFest, will present additional 45 films in two competitions and two special programs. DokuFest will also give awards in three additional categories including the audience, human rights awards as well as the best newcomer award from Balkan Documentary Competition.
Tribute to Bekim Fehmiu
In the memory of the late actor Bekim Fehmiu, who passed away recently, DokuFest will organize a special screening of the cult 1967 film Skuplja驠Perja (I Even Met Happy Gypsies), directed by Aleksandar Petrovi殍
In the film that won Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1967, Fehmiu stars as Belii Bora.
The film will be screened on 31st of July at 22.15h as part of the gala opening in The Riverbed cinema, above the Lumbardhi River, symbolically marking the connection that the late actor had with his hometown Prizren and the River Lumbardhi.
Born in 1936 in Sarajevo, Fehmiu is considered one of the best albanian actors. Fehmiu, was the first Eastern European actor to star in Hollywood during the Cold War, appearing in over 40 films alongside cinematic legends such as Dirk Bogarde, Ava Gardner, Claudia Cardinale, Robert Shaw and Olivia de Havilland.
