Tirana Times
TIRANA, May 20 – Albania movies released during the past four years were for the first time displayed in the Cannes Film Festival from May 12 to 21 in a special pavilion of Southeast European countries.
Albania was represented in the festival with six directors and producers promoting some of the best Albanian productions and co-productions such as Secrets by Spartak Pecani, The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider, Honey Moons, Alive, Time of Comet etc.
“This initiative was undertaken to promote Albanian movies around the world and best values of the art of cinematography to give a bigger impetus to Albanian culture, tradition and history,” said Artan Minarolli, the director of the National Cinematography Centre.
The Albanian pavilion displayed an album of film productions, trailers of movies shot from 2006 to 2010, posters, leaflets and DVDs.
One day after the festival’s opening, renowned international filmmakers were invited to watch the Albanian cinematography closer and set contacts with Albanian directors and producers.
This was the first time Albania, Macedonia and Cyprus presented their cinematic output to the rest of the filmmaking community under the umbrella of the Southeastern European Regional Pavilion.
The regional umbrella pavilion served a dual purpose, as a shared common space playing host to eight separate information points, one for each participating country – and as a meeting place where filmmakers from Southeastern Europe came together, met their peers from other countries, conducted meetings and presented their projects during the Cannes Film Market.
The regional cinema networking initiative is rapidly gaining momentum. Filmmakers from the eight countries represented by the regional pavilion for Southeastern Europe are confident that this practical expression of the European idea of regionalizing the art and business of filmmaking will benefit them all.
Founded in 1946, The Cannes Film Festival is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious film festivals. The festival is held annually in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France. This year’s president of the jury will be renowned American film director Tim Burton.
