Some 15 films are competing in the festival’s two official categories, the Contemporary Visions and the Balkan World until September 4
TIRANA, August 31 – The ancient Roman amphitheatre in the coastal city of Durres hosted last Sunday the opening ceremony of the third film festival bringing together renowned international directors and actors to introduce their latest productions.
The festival opened with Career Awards to three late Albanian movie starts, scriptwriter Dhimiter Xhuvani and actors Agim Qiriaqi and Bekim Fehmiu.
The festival’s opening film was ‘La vie en rose’ a movie directed by Oliver Dahan. Dedicated to French music icon Edith Piaf, the film, a 2008 Academy Awards winner for best performance by an actress in a leading role (Marion Cotillard), was screened in the in the “Close encounters” category, which in this edition is dedicated to France. The section showcases the best French films of the last three years with the aim to give to the audience gathered in Durres a deeper knowledge of the culture of the France and of the art trends of its filmmakers.
Speaking at the opening ceremony hosted by actor Timo Flloko, Culture Minister Ferdinand Xhaferraj described the festival held at the ancient Roman amphitheatre an excellent opportunity to promote the city’s cultural heritage.
Some 15 films are competing in the festival’s two official categories, the Contemporary Visions and the Balkan World until September 4 when an international jury will announce the festival’s winners.
The participant movies include some of the best European 2009 and 2010 productions. Although no Albanian movies are participating in this year’s edition, the Albanian cinema is present with the Retrospective Homage showcasing the best movies by late actors and directors.
The Albanian cinema is also represented with Short Albanian Film featuring 15 films by Albanian students from the Tirana, Prishtina and Skopje film schools.
The official competition started on Monday at the Aleksander Moisiu theatre with “It’s hell with princess,” a 2009 Czech Republic production directed by Milos Smidmaje competing in the Contemporary Visions. The programme continued with “Some other stories,” a Serbian-Slovenian-Bosnian and Macedonian production directed by Marija Dzidzeva and Ivona Juka.
Some of the festival’s movies had an Albanian background, such as “Dossier K” telling the story of Albanian gangs in Belgium starring Albanian actor Blerim Destani.
Fanny Ardant’s “Ashes and Blood” is also based on a story by Albania’s renowned writer Ismail Kadare.
The festival also offered cinema master classes by Jan Harlan and Henning Lohne.
This year’s special guests were French actress Fanny Ardant and Turkey’s T
