Blerim Destani, an actor born in Germany to ethnic Albanian parents from Macedonia’s Tetovo grabbed the best actor award for his starring role in the Dossier K, a movie directed by Jan Verheyen
Tirana Times
TIRANA, September 6 – “The Last Days of Emma Blank” has been announced the winner of this year’s third edition of the international film festival held in the coastal city of Durres. The movie, a Netherlands-Belgian co-production, was awarded the Golden Gladiator prize in a ceremony held last weekend at the Roman ancient amphitheatre, one of the festival’s two venues along with the “Aleksander Moisiu” theatre.
“The Last Days of Emma Blank,” written and directed by Netherlands’ Alex van Warmerdam, competed in the Contemporary Visions category along with eight other movies.
“In a large country home, the owner Emma Blank is very ill and is cared for by her household staff: Haneveld, the head housekeeper, Bella, the cook, Gonnie, the maid, and Meier, the man-servant. Despite her desperate need for loving care, Emma is a steely, avaricious dictator whose demands become ever more absurd, to the extent that her staff is driven to madness,” reads the film review on the festival’s website.
The best Balkan film award went to “Medal of Honour,” a Romanian-German co-production directed by Calin Peter Netzer. The movie features the life of 75-year-old Romanian man, who accidentally receives a medal of honour for some ‘heroic’ actions back in the WW2, times he barely remembers.
Although Albania was not represented in the festival’s two official categories, Blerim Destani, an actor born in Germany to ethnic Albanian parents from Macedonia’s Tetovo, grabbed the best actor award for his starring role in the “Dossier K,” a movie directed by Jan Verheyen telling the story of Albanian gangs in Belgium. “Dossier K” also received the special jury award.
The best actress prize went to Israel’s Ronit Elkabetz for her role in Fanny Ardant’s “Ashes and Blood.”
Meanwhile, other prizes awarded in the Balkan World category included the Audience Award to “Besa,” a Balkan co-production written and directed by Serbia’s Srdjan Karanovic based on the Albanian code of honour called “besa.”
The Albanian cinema was represented with the “short film” category featuring 15 films by Albanian students from the Tirana, Prishtina and Skopje film schools.
“Jinx in a Jiffy,” a short film directed Gentian Koci, a student of the Marubi film school in Tirana, was announced the winner of this category.
At the festival’s closing ceremony on September 4, the international jury headed by Kosovo director Isa Qosja awarded the Golden Gladiator Career Achievement to Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi and a career award to Albanian actress Tinka Kurti
On the festival’s opening day, August 29, three late Albanian cinema figures, movies stars Agim Qiriaqi and Bekim Fehmiu and scriptwriter Dhimiter Xhuvani were honoured with Career Awards.
For one week, some 15 European films, all of which 2009 and 2010 productions, competed in the festival’s two official categories and dozens of others were screened in the “Out of competition” sections including some international biographical documentaries.
The Albanian cinema was also presented with the Retrospective Homage showcasing the best movies by late actors and directors.
This year’s “Close encounters” category was dedicated to France. The section showcased 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.
The jury’s president, Isa Qosja, said the festival also served to exchange experience and set contacts for new movie co-productions. The festival also introduced the audience in Durres with the latest regional productions, the Balkan mentality as well as the political and social situation.
Enrico lo Verso, an Italian actor who starred in L’America, a movie featuring the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and Albania in the early 90s also returned to Albania as a jury member 16 years after the film’s release. The festival also served to promote tourism in Durres, a city which boasts a 2700-year-old history.
The festival was supported by the Culture Ministry, the National Cinematography Centre and Durres Municipality.
