Cham History Documentary Premiered in Tirana

TIRANA, March 11 – A documentary paying homage to the Albanian Cham population which was expelled from Greece just before World War II ended was premiered on Thursday at the National Theater of Opera and Ballet in Tirana. Directed by Kujtim Gjonaj and written by Enver Kushi, “The Dream of Chameria” documentary brings back the tragedy of the Cham population in a confession of their history and survival after being forcefully banished from their houses in Greece.
The documentary features places, people, and stories. Some 100 to 120 Cham people, witnesses of the massive expulsion, have been interviewed in the documentary in Greece, America and Turkey.
“The documentary film is as historical as exciting,” director Gjonaj told reporters earlier this year. It has been perceived in four parts with each of them leading to the main idea of the documentary, the survival of the Cham population. The first part called “Removing the fog, the rediscovery of Chameria” brings a summary of the history and geographical position of Chameria as well as data on their cities and population.
The second part “The Cham Drama, the Chronicle of the Dissolution” includes the chronicle of the Cham pain and tragedy. The third part “Survival, fires don’t go out” is based on the Cham values. The fourth and closing part, called “Yearn -The re-making of Chameria” focuses on the vitality of the population.
The director says he came up with the idea of a documentary on Chameria in 2000 when he was shooting a documentary film on Albanian 18th century ruler Ali Pashe Tepelena and found himself in Cham populated areas in Greece.
“They were massacred, forced to leave but survived to this day and are a vital people,” said Gjonaj about the thousands of expelled Chams, most of whom moved to Albania and Turkey.
Since the early 1990s, the Cham population in Albania has been demanding the return of their property in Greece which was seized after their expulsion.
The documentary was financially supported by National Cinematographic Centre.
Esat Teliti and renowned Albanian actress Margarita Xhepa star in the 80-minute documentary.