Tuesday, November 20, 2007

TIRANA AMA LA CULTURA

Visita alla Fiera del Libro, dove l’editore salentino Livio Muci è di casa,e al cantiere dell’International Film Festival

Tirana corre, Tirana cambia, Tirana si dà un tono, ma non dimentica la cultura. I libri, la musica, il teatro, i film che negli anni del regime comunista erano stati il rifugio delle menti hanno un posto anche nella capitale che nel quartierino tra l’università, piazza Presidente Wilson e il lungofiume comincia a mettere insieme un’aria inconfondibilmente europea tra bar alla moda, discoteche patinate e boutique internazionali. Prendete questo novembre: chiude oggi la Fiera del libro, il 26 inizia il Tirana International Film Festival, per strada si vedono i manifesti di pieces teatrali, il galà lirico sinfonico offerto dalla Regione Puglia per la
chiusura di uno dei tanti progetti comunitari fa registrare il tutto esaurito. Non che manchino i problemi: l’acustica del Teatro dell’Opera, appesantito di moquette d’annata, è a dir poco approssimativa e Rino Marrone, direttore d’orchestra ospite, raccontava dopo le prove delle difficoltà che i volenterosi orchestrali (tra i quali
ci sono comunque delle punte di assoluta eccellenza) devono affrontare perfino con le sedie.
La logistica non è il punto forte neanche per la Fiera del libro, ospitata nella Piramide costruita per essere il mausoleo del dittatore comunista Enver Hoxha e trasformata negli anni del turbocapitalismo perfino in una discoteca. Oggi viene
usata come sede di fiere, ma la struttura è decisamente inadatta. E per di più la quantità di espositori ha costretto anche ad allestire all’esterno un paio di gazebo sferzati dalla pioggia abbondante di questa settimana. Tra dentro e fuori gli espositori sono quasi cento, compresi una manciata di editori kosovari e ’associazione degli editori in lingua albanese di Macedonia. Potenza di
una lingua che ha quasi altrettanti parlanti fuori dei confini della repubblica d’Albania di quanti non ne abbia all’interno (per altro la presenza ufficiale
della Grecia occhieggia agli ellenofoni del sud albanese), forza di una giovane editoria che traduce tantissima saggistica ma che non ha abbandonato l’amore per la letteratura: l’ultima grande passione dei lettori albanesi sembra essere il nostro Dino Buzzati, del quale qualche volta si traduce anche il cognome in un improbabile
«Buxati». Una casa editrice straniera in lingua albanese è, a rigore, anche la salentina Besa, che propone accanto ai suoi tanti titoli in italiano dedicati alla letteratura, alla cultura, alla storia albanesi, una selezionata produzione in
lingua albanese, nella quale spiccano i titoli degli albanesi Diana Çuli e Gezim Hajdari, ma c’è anche la Lettera a un kamikaze di Khaled Fouad Allam.
Livio Muci che con l’Albania dei libri traffica da ancor prima della caduta del comunismo, in questa Fiera del libro è naturalmente di casa, e non manca di notare che «con tanto parlare che si fa in Puglia di rafforzare i legami con l’Albania, la Regione avrebbbe ben potuto portare qui gli editori pugliesi. Del resto l’italiano
non è certo un ostacolo per i lettori albanesi».
In un ufficetto a vista tra i negozi e i bar della galleria commerciale della Torre Drin, a pochi passi dall’ombelico di pazza Skanderbeg, si lavora a ritmi forsennati per la quinta edizione del Tirana International Film Festival. La manifestazione,
nata per risolvere un problema enorme per i cineasti e i cinefili albanesi, l’impossibilità, stante il restrittivo regime dei visti, di andare ai festival
cinematografici, è cresciuta anno dopo anno, guadagnandosi le simpatie di grandi
registi come Ken Loach o Goran Paskaljevic e una forse inattesa credibilità internazionale: per l’edizione di quest’anno ben 850 cortometraggi da 65 paesi del mondo sono stati presentati alla selezione. Ne sono stati scelti 105 per le diverse
sezioni, fiction, documentario, animazione e sperimentale.
Ilir Butka, che lo ha ideato nel 2003 e da allora lo dirige, ha quest’anno un grossissimo problema in più: il nuovo ministro della cultura Yilli Pango ha inaspettatamente tagliato i fondi alla manifestazione.
«E’ un colpo durissimo, fino all’anno scorso il ministero ci garantiva gratuitamente
l’uso dell’unica sala cinematografica di Tirana (un’altra entrerà in funzione nei
prossimi mesi, N.d.R.)e ci dava una mano per l’ospitalità.
Quest’anno dovremo pagare ma ce la faremo lo stesso: per fortuna il Centro Nazionale di Cinematografia non ci ha voltato le spalle e siamo alla ricerca di qualche sponsor. Sempre che la petizione di protesta che abbiamo lanciato sul web non convinca Pango a fare marcia indietro».
Spiccano nell’elenco le firme di Moritz de Hadeln, ex direttore dei festival di Berlino e di Venezia, e quella di Gianni Amelio, atteso a Tirana per quello che dovrebbe essere l’evento dell’edizione 2007. Butka ha incontrato Amelio l’estate scorsa al Brindisi International Film Festival e prontamente lo ha invitato per dedicargli una retrospettiva. Dalla quale non poteva mancare Lamerica, il film che nel 1994 il regista calabrese girò sull’Albania miserrima e senza speranze dei primi anni dopo il crollo del regime. Un film che allora fece molto discutere e che in Albania non piacque molto: troppo duro, troppo impietoso.
Chissà cosa ne diranno ora nei bei bar tra l’università e il lungofiume.

Luigi Quaranta
Corriere della Sera

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

LUCE Special Programme of TIFF 2003

Luce Institute Presents its Short Films of Epoc
coordinator Roland Sejko

Corrado D’Errico
- Ritmi di stazione (Railway Station Rhythms), 1933
Roberto Rossellini
- Fantasia sotto-marina (Fantasy under the Sea), 1940
Michelangelo Antonioni
- N.U. Nette-zza Urbana (Urban Sanitation), 1948
Dino Risi
- Buio in sala (Lights Down in the Cinema), 1950
Vittorio Scala
- Notturno (Nocturnal), 1950
Valerio Zurlini
- La stazione (The Railway Station), 1952
Francesco Maselli
- Fioriae (Flower Maids),1952
Giorgio Ferroni
- Confidenze di un gatto (Confidencies of a Cat),1953
Romolo Marcellini
- Appuntamento a Piazza di Spagna (Rendezvous at the Spanish Steps), 1954
Damiano Damiani
- Bambini soli (Children Alone), 1958
Federico Fellini
“Roma”, 1972


Istituto Luce, a company of the famous Cinecittà Holding, is one of Italy.s most important film companies known worldwide especially for its film archives dating from the beginnings of cinematography to the day. Since its foundation in 1924 to the present day Istituto Luce has played a key role in the history of Italian and international cinema. Its primary goal was to spread culture and knowledge Soon Luce introduced the first sound films in Europe and took up the production of the greatest films of the period paving the way to the opening of Cinecittà that would later be known worldwide as the Hollywood on the Tiber.. Thousands of hours of film archives produced or acquired in the course of the years have made Luce.s archives one the most important in Europe and in the world. Instituto Luce is the first and the only that has brought in the Albanians memory the wedding of the King Ahmet Zog with Geraldine. An anticipatory consideration of the new technologies made Luce be the first film company in the world to offer most of its archives on the Internet for free viewing. Besides its archives, Istituto Luce has represented over the years

the most important film producers and distributors in Italy. Today Luce distributes more than 40 Italian or international films annually in theatres or Home Video.
In T.I.F.F. .03 “A story of a city, ” to quote Fellini. In Roma, Fellini strings together a series of images of Rome, and through his eyes this special city becomes a living, breathing organism. Roma is quite possibly Fellini’s most avowedly autobiographical film to date - a loving document of his own personal encounter with Rome. Starring Fiona Florence, Britta Barnes, Pia de Doses, Marne Maitland and Peter Gonzales as Fellini at 18. Italian with English subtitles.



Valerio Zurlini
The Railway Station /Showtime: 10 min, 47 sec

Termini railway station is the point where many people of different languages and dialects meet and are exchanged with each other. But, in some way it is also a place to rest. Here, we see man the way it is, vulnerable in his exhaustion and simplicity.

Vitorio Scala
Nocturnal

Everything in the film happens during one night, which starts with noise of a clock and ends up with a man who puts in order his

Damiano Damiani
Children Alone / Showtime: 10 minutes

The film deals with the fantasies and games of a child living in a city and who is obliged to pass a lot of time being alone


Roberto Rosselini
Fantasy under the Sea / Showtime: 10 min and 16 sec

It is a short love and adventure story in the world of fishes, to whom the fantasy of the director has attributed human qualities, feelings and passions.

Corrado D’Errico
Railway Station Rhythm / Showtime: 8 min and 21 sec.

It is a film realized in 1933 that depicts a day in the “iron world”, which is nothing else rather than a railway station. The tone used in it is soft and at times ironic, becoming even comic, while the director is in search of repetitive effects that areintermingled with the mechanism of human behavior.

Romolo Marcelini
Rendezvous in Piaza d’Espagna

This documentary film illustrates the mundane and intellectual atmosphere revailing in Piazza d’Espagnain a day. During this time one sees in front of him the life of all inhabitants of this square, starting from the shoe-polishers, and going on with painters, poets, actors, religious people, designers, photographers and others.

Francesco Maselli
Flower Maids / Showtime: 11 min

The film deals with a tiresome working day of some flower maids who move from the most popular to the city’s suburbs and at times they stop in Villa Borghese where they offer violets to people passing by.


Dino Risi
Lights Down in the Cinema / Showtime: 10 min. 32 sec

This is a short film depicting different human types

Giorgio Ferroni
Confidences of a Cat / Showtime: 9 min and 36 sec.

Seemingly, cats as well have a world of their own. It looks like the director of the film Giorgio Ferroni wants to penetrate and present to the public this mystic and intriguing world in details.


Michelangelo Antonioni

Presents:N.U. / Showtime: 11 min.

The director brings images from the city of Rome in 1948, the Capital of a country just emerged from the World War II and its remains have not yet been removed from its streets.


Federico Fellini
“Roma”, 1972

SPECIAL PROGRAMME TIFF 2006

M O N T X O A R M E N D A R I Z

One of Spain's hottest directors of the 1990s, Montxo Armendáriz directed the internationally acclaimed Secretos del Corazon, Silencio rotto, Obaba. Born in Navarra on 1949, before becoming a filmmaker, Armendáriz studied electronics in Pamplona. He started out making three short Basque films, and in 1984, made his feature film debut with Tasio (1984). Ranked among New Spanish cinema's more liberal filmmakers, Armendáriz's films frequently


Synopses OBABA

Lurdes, scarcely 25 years old, begins on a trip towards Obaba’s territories.

She is carrying a small video camera in her luggage. She wants to catch Obaba reality, its world and its people. She wants to catch the present, and show it the way it is. But Obaba is not the place that Lurdes had imagined, and she discovers that the people who live there, like Merche, Ismael o Tomás, are trapped in a past that they can not –or they do not want to- escape from.


San Sebastian International Film Festival, Opening

SELECTED BY THE SPANISH ACADEMY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM AWARD CATEGORY

Toronto International Film Festival, Masters Section

Ten nominations to the Annual Spanish Academy Film Awards (Goyas)

Best Film Award, ASSOCIATION OF ENTERTAINMENT CRITICS (ACE) of New York


SILENCIO ROTTO synopses

Autumn 1944, 21-year-old Lucia returns to the small mountain village where her parents live. The town is split between Franco’s fascist supporters and the Republicans. Lucia falls in love with Manuel, a young blacksmith who supports the Maquis, guerrilla warriors hidden in the mountains, who do not accept Franco’s triumph. Manuel flees the village to join them, and Lucia discovers the harsh reality as silence, horror and fear populate the village’s empty streets.


Butaca Awards: Butaca for Best Catalan Film Actress

Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain: CEC Award for Best Supporting Actress

Mons International Festival of Love Films: C.I.C.A.E. Award

Nantes Spanish Film Festival: Jules Verne Award

Toulouse Cinespaña: Prix du Jury des Lecteurs de 'La dépêche du midi' for Best Film, Best Film


SECRETS OF THE HEARTS synopses

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, SECRETS OF THE HEART (SECRETOS DEL CORAZON) is an elegant and poignant tale of the mysterious and magical adult world as seen through the eyes of Javi, a nine-year-old child, growing up in a small provincial town in the 1960s.

Javi believes he can hear the voices of the dead and that they whisper to him their secrets, which were left unspoken in life. At his mother's house in the mountains, he is fascinated by the room in which his father died and which his mother carefully keeps locked. But, Javi also learns that the living have their secrets as well.


Nominated for the Academy Awards, USA: Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film
Winner of Berlin International Film Festival: Blue Angel
Chicago International Film Festival: Audience Choice Award Goya Awards: Goya for Best Supporting Actress (Mejor Actriz de Reparto), Best Production Design (Mejor Dirección Artística), Best Sound (Mejor Sonido), Best New Actor (Mejor Actor Revelación)



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G O R A N P A S K A L J E V I C

Goran Paskaljevic studied at the well-known Prague school of cinema (FAMU). He has made 30 documentaries and 14 feature films, shown and acclaimed at the most prestigious international film festivals (Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto and San Sebastian…). The rise of nationalism in Yugoslavia forced him to leave his country in 1992. In 1998 he went back to make The Powder Keg (aka Cabaret Balkan in the USA) which won international critic's prizes at the Venice Film Festival and the European Film Awards. In 2001, the Variety International Film Guide marks him as one of the top five directors of the year. His latest film Midwinter Night's Dream (2004) exploring the post-war Serbia won the Grand Jury Prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

The Museum of Modern Art in New-York (MoMA) will present a full retrospective of his work at the end of next year.



THE OPTIMISTS
The five stories in THE OPTIMISTS are inspired by Voltaire’s famous satirical novel Candide and its motto: “Optimism is insisting everything is good, when everything is bad.” The setting is present day, post-Milosevic Serbia. Painted with black humour, these stories reflect a time filled with hope and despair, real optimism and false; a time when fiction and reality co-exist side by side, and when many people fish in the troubled waters of lost illusions.

The acclaimed actor Lazar Ristovski (“Underground”, “The Powder Keg” aka “Cabaret Balkan” in the USA, “Midwinter Night’s Dream”) takes a role in each of the five stories.


Best Film Valladolid Film Festival
Best actor winner Lazar Ristovski
Audience Award for the best film
Geneva Film Festival - Best Director
FIPRESCI Award for the best film
Toronto – Masters – World Premiere


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C A V E H Z A H E D I

Caveh Zahedi was born in 1960 in Washington D.C. Zahedi is the director of the American independent features A LITTLE STIFF and I DON'T HATE LAS VEGAS ANYMORE . Zahedi appears in all of his own films, and has also acted in other directors' films. He is familiar to film fans as "Peter" in CITIZEN RUTH, and as "Caveh" in the 2000 Sundance Film Festival hit romantic comedy A SIGN FROM GOD, (which he also co-wrote and edited).


Synopses of I am a sex addict
Winner of the Gotham Award for “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You,” I AM A SEX ADDICT is the transgressive new comedy from autobiographical filmmaker Caveh Zahedi On the eve of his third marriage, Caveh tells the story of how his attraction to prostitutes and his compulsive honesty combined to destroy each of his past relationships. The genre-bending mix of camera address, re-enactment, and home movie footage make for a strikingly funny and original film.


A sign from god
Greg Watkins' romantic black comedy A Sign from God depicts a semi-fictionalized day in the life of independent filmmaker Caveh Zahedi and his girlfriend Laura as they struggle with a series of challenges and accidents while desperately seeking a sign from God about the future of their troubled relationship. Laura's increasingly pessimistic attitude - she perceives that the cascading negative events of their lives portend a negative "sign" about the relationship - is offset by Caveh's serene and abiding faith that everything happens for a reason...

"By turns sweet, quirky, comical, and exhausting, A Sign from God stretches the tired conventions of the romantic comedy like few films I've seen."

Merle Bertrand, FILM THREAT

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Special Program



A l e k s a n d a r M a n i c

THE SHUTKA BOOK OF RECORDS

After studying at the Philosophical Faculty of the Cologne University, he moved to Prague to attend FAMU, the renowned film and TV academy. There he directed a short called Astropolitan, which premiered at the International Belgrade Film Festival and earned Mani success early in his career. While working as a translator for Emir Kusturica's Underground, he agreed to shoot a documentary on Kusturica called Shooting Days, which has won critical acclaim and has been distributed in many countries.

Synopses
In the Balkan town of Shutka, the Romani (Gypsy) population is thriving and everyone is considered a champion at something, be it boxing or grave robbing. Aleksander Manic's The Shutka Book of Records gives us a walking tour of this vibrant community, and along the way, we meet some of the colorful ""champions."", champion vampire hunter and champion love maker ""When a child is born in Roma, it cries in melody."" Adults are liable to do the same after meeting all the strange and endearing characters in

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WOODY ALLEN

Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg on December 1, 1935) is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, musician, and comedian.
His large body of work and cerebral film style have made him one of the most widely respected and prolific filmmakers in the modern era. Allen writes and directs his movies and has also acted in the majority of them. For inspiration, Allen draws heavily on literature, philosophy, psychology, European cinema and, most important, New York City, where he was born and in which he has lived all his life.


Synopses
Romantic adventures of neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer and his equally neurotic girlfriend Annie Hall. The film traces the course of their relationship from their first meeting, and serves as an interesting historical document about love in the 1970s.
“Even as a kid I always went for the wrong women, when we went to see Snow White, everyone fell in love with Snow White, I immediately fell for the wicked queen.”


Annie Hall won the Oscar for being the best movie 1977. Allen also won the Oscar for the best direction. At the ceremony, he didn’t show up to accept the statue. The media found out that he was playing the clarinet at the Michels’ that evening, as on all Monday evenings for decades. The explanation he gave in an interview, was that he felt competing in arts, rediculous. Annie Hall (1977)


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SCANDINAVIAN SHORT PANORAMA

Selected by Karolina Lidin


NORWAY Eivind Tolås
Love is the law

Eivind Tolås The short film 'Love is the Law' by Eivind Tolås has been selected for Semaine Internationale de la Critique in Cannes. The film is based on a poem by Ole Mads Vevle and produced by Lars Løge for Flimmer Film AS. Short Film, 6min

Love is the law


DANMARK Max Kestner
Max by Chance

This is the story of Max, the director's own story, playfully animated within the realms of documentary. Max's story traces back several generations to sailers, industrialists and Summer of Love hippies - everyone depicted with whole-hearted love and equal amounts of irony. But there is something more at stake here, something larger than the biographical filmic note of a single man. The film embraces with vulnerable playfulness life's many coincidences and grapples with questions such as genetics, destiny and family patterns.

Max by Chance


SWEDEN Lisa Munthe
The parasite

Niklas is a truck driver in a chipboard factory in a small community in northern Sweden

The parasite


DANMARK Kassandra Wellendorf
Close

Close examines a series of situations between bodies that reach out for each other. How close can you get? And can you ever get close enough? The form is experimental and depicts the meeting of bodies in unusual close-ups that bypass the typical pornographic exhibition of naked bodies. The result is a picture ballet that accommodates beauty as well as claustrophobic terror in its presentation of feelings like fear, intimacy and distance.

Close


SWEDEN Johan Brisinger
Passing heart

Awards
Berlin Film Festival, Audience award Panorama section
Aspen Film Festival, Audience award & best cinematography
The poignant meeting between a young man and the family whose late son saved his life.
Passing heart


DANMARK Jacob Tschernia
2 Minutes

The best way to find out who you are is to test your own limits - to do the utmost of your ability. That is the theme of this short psychological thriller. A boy lies in a bathtub, holding his breath. He is trying to break his personal record - 2 minutes.

2 Minutes


NORWAY Frederikke Aspöck
Happy Now

"Happy Now" is a bittersweet story about wanting to be seen as an individual. A typical American family goes to the beach. Their seemingly perfect life is turned upside-down when the mother Carol, who has long felt overlooked in her marriage, kisses a lifeguard and is caught by her husband.

Happy Now


NORWAY Pioter Sapegin
Aria

Sapegin films has won more than 20 national and international awards.
Don't cry for me, I'm already dead (Non piangete per me, sono già morto.)

Aria


NORWAY Therese Jacobsen
FearLESS

compete for the prestigious awards in Toronto. 2003 • 4’30
Film Critics' Award Norwegian Short Film Festival in Grimstad ,Jameson Short Film Award 2003.


FearLESS



CADILLAC MAN
(Documentary Film)

Michael Regan

Cadillac Man: Life Under The Viaduct is a documentary about a homeless veteran who has lived on the streets of New York for the past eleven years.
With interviews from friends, neighbors and passers-by we get an idea of what life on the streets of New York is like for him.
As his story unfolds we learn that Cadillac Man has a hidden talent that may help to propel him out of his homeless situation and into the mainstream of society. Michael Regan studied acting at the famed Lee Strasberg Theater Institute for several years. He also studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory.
He began his acting career in the mid nineties and has appeared in several films including Revolution, El Septimo Cielo and Molotov Samba.
Michael is making his directorial debut with "Cadillac Man: Life Under The Viaduct with the producer Luan Bexheti.

EURO MEDITERRANEAN CINEMA, THE WEEK OF ALBANIAN CINEMA

The European Cinema Festival of Lecce, chosen by the cinema section in the Programme PIC Interreg Italy/Albania, will dedicate this year a week to discover or re-discover Albanian cinematography...The Festival will host some of the most important contemporary Albanian directors.

for more information: www.europecinefestival.org

SALENTO FINIBUSTERRAE 2006

Film Festival Cortometraggio Internazionale

In the framework of the cooperation with other European film festivals the 24 July 2006 TIFF will organize “Albanian Shorts”, a special night within the "Salento Finibus Terrae" International Film Festival. The five Albanian shorts already selected by the direction of the Salento Film Festival are: "Abandoned Eden" by Eno Milkani, "Bitter Prunes" by Dorian Ahmeti, "The Bridge" by Artur Muharremi, "Tunnel" by Ilir Butka, "Snowdrops" by Robert budina.
For more information: www.salentofinibusterrae.com

Special Programme TIFF 2005

Festival Guests

Tickets
Directors : Ermanno Olmi, Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach

"The Powder Keg"
(Cabaret Balkan)
Director : Goran Paskaljevic

Midwinter Night's Dream
Director : Goran Paskaljevic, 95 minutes

Fetishes
Director : Nick Broomfield

Kurt & Courtney
Director : Nick Broomfield

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Poetic Cinema

World premiere
Reading Kavafis
Director : Carl Henrik Svenstedt

Children of the plains
Director : Carl Henrik Svenstedt

Sniper
Director : Carl Henrik Svenstedt

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Shorts Attack

The best selected films from interfilm Berlin – International Short Film Festival and Distribution

Tempo
Per Carleson Sweden, 2002 35mm 04:00min Short Fiction Without Dialogue [ Lifestyle-Breakfast-Film ]
Dance the breakfast - And: what are we doing with our lives? What are we giving to our children? What is it that's bringing us to the edge? And most important of all: what time is it?

Kolac
Daniel Šuljic Croatia, 1998 35mm 08:00min Children Film / Animation Without Dialogue [ Societal Grotesque ]
The party guests surround the table. Dividing the cake into pieces of exactly the same size - so as not to offend any of the guests - can be quite difficult...

Grijs
Christophe van Rompaey Belgium, 1996 35mm 12:00min Short Fiction Without Dialogue [ Psycho-Thriller ]
In a futuristic metropolis, the citizens work diligently. What happens when a man realizes one day that he has a double? He pursues him and communicates.

Dernière invention
Lolo Zazar France, 1998 35mm 08:00min Real-Animation Without Dialogue [ Mystical Revolutionary Slap-stick ]
While reading the newspaper, a man is suddenly attacked by his T.V ! He escapes to the kitchen, only to be confronted by various aggressive household appliances and soon the entire apartment joins the revolt against its tenant.

Zur Zeit verstorben
Thomas Wendrich Germany, 2004 35mm 17:00min Short Fiction OV ger. [ Seniority-Film ]
After some troubles with his family the old man goes to meet some of his old friends. They're sitting and talking. The old man wants to be clever while buying some ice cream, but he ´ll start a long journey ... .

Nosfératu Tango
Zoltán Horváth Switzerland, 2002 35mm 13:00min Animation Without Dialogue [ Vamp Film ]
The tragicomic story of a mosquito who falls in love with Nosferatu, Prince of the vampires.

Tango del aire
Chris Roth Germany, 2003 35mm 13:30min Short Fiction Without Dialogue [ Urban worker ´s poetry ]
A poetic music film about the appeal between an old sweeper, an old accord eon player and the wind in a subway station. The more the wind blows the more the sweeper is driven to despair because the wind whirls up the trash - but who’s playing the wind?

Tagebuch
Vuk Jevremovic Germany, 2000 35mm 10:30min Animation Without Dialogue [ Reflections of an Urban Day ]
A normal day in the live of the contemporary anti-hero in a metropolis.

Business as usual
Tom Zenker Germany, 2003 35mm 04:38min Short Fiction Without Dialogue [ Confrontation Film ]
Downtown Area. Clerks, businesspeople and a bum grubbing in the garbage. Two elder businessmen meet in an unconventional way, and they begin a fight. People passing by don ´t notice. - Business as usual!

Kvinnokraft
Per Carleson Sweden, 2004 35mm 04:00min Short Fiction Without Dialogue
[ Road movie ]
Bringing a bike from A to B should be easy, but a small transportation problem can get bigger, fast. A short film that proves that a little cunning can help, especially if you are a woman of a certain age...

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Retrospective of Fatmir Koci

1. Nje i trete
, short fiction 1988 17 min, 35 mm black & white

2. Lumi qe nuk shteron
short fiction 1989 43 min 35 mm black & white

3. Tirana year zero
2001 90 MIN 35 MM COLOR

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Retrospective of Danish Film School graduation films

During the third edition of TIFF is going to be a retrospective of National Film School of Denmark the winner of 3 of last 4 “Baby Oscars”. Among the movies selected for the retrospective will be the graduated movies of Lars Von Trier and Thomas Winderberg.

Rector of National Film School of Denmark Poul Nesgaard and the Leader Tina Sørensen are going to be present during the days of TIFF in introducing the retrospective movies of their school.

Fiction

Image of relief
1982 - Lars von Trier dur. 50 min.

10:32 A Lovestory
1991 - Anette K. Olesen dur. 28 min.

Last Round
1993 - Thomas Vinterberg dur. 35 min.

Never
1997 - Reza Parza dur. 36 min

Little Man
1999 - Peter Schønau Fog dur. 40 min.

Anxiety
2001 - Christoffer Boe dur. 30 min

Woyzecks Last Symphony
2001 - Nicolai Arcel dur. 30 min

The Fighter
2003 - Daniel Espinosa dur. 37 min

The Departure
2005 - Louise Freidberg dur. 30 min.

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Documentary:

Margarita
2003 - Lise Birk Pedersen dur. 30 min

Girl with Telephone
2005 - Anja Kvistgaard dur. 28 min

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Animation:

Little big Dog
1998 -Bo Hagen Clausen dur. 7 min

Araki
2002 - Anders Morgenthaler 8 min

The Shadow in Sara
2004 -Karla Nielsen dur. 7 min

Bernie & Bingo
2004 - Sabine Ravn dur. 7 min.

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APULIAN CINEMA DAYS

6th – 10th December

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME
Full-length film

by Edoardo WINSPEARE
The miracle (Il miracolo)
Life blood (Sangue vivo)
Pizzicata (id.)

by Alessandro PIVA
My brother in law (Mio cognato)
Lacapagira (id.)

by Sergio RUBINI
All the love there is (Tutto l’amore che c’è)
The station (La stazione);

by Pasquale POZZESSERE
Toward the south (Verso sud )

by Davide Marengo
Cray (id.)

Short films

The fabulous destiny of Candy (Il favoloso destino di Candy)
by Maurizio Buttazzo

The jester’s return (Il ritorno dei giullari )
by Gianluca Camerino

Bbobbolone! (id.)
by Daniele Cascella

Ficarigna (id.)
by Sophie Chiarello

Filmtest (Il provino)
by Andrea Costantino

Jetoj – Vivo (id.)
by Ervis Eshja and Mattia Soranzo

The scarecrow (Lo spaventapasseri)
by Cesare Fragnelli

Zinanà (id.)
by Pippo Mezzapesa

The magnificent seven (Il magnifico sette)
by Paolo Pisanelli

The liturgy of fruit and vegetable stall (Liturgia della bancarella)
by Simone Salvemini

Uè paisà.Act I - Franchein (id.)
by Gianni Torres

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

master classes and lessons

During the days of Tirana International Film Festival for the Albanian filmmakers and the audience are going to take part many master classes and lessons from the above mentioned guest as Goran Paskaljevic, Carl Henrik Svenstedt, David D, arcy, experts from the Danish Film School, ect.

December 2005

Greeting remark by the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports

Among all visual arts, the photography and especially the cinema found a full support in Albania at the beginning of the century. Within a few years from the invention of the photography and the cinema, even in the poor and little Albania the seventh art was joyfully and with no hesitation embraced.

I do believe that this choice of Albanians was not casual. Considering the fact that the cinema shares a twin relationship with the memory of the humanity, for the Albanians the perception of this relationship came quite natural. Even though with a relatively young language, the Albanian memory generates deep on time and consequently strongly feeds the seventh art in Albania.

While I give a thought to the remote history of the cinema in Albania, a natural desire comes to me to hail an important cultural event such as the days of Tirana International Film Festival. The big challenge of the founders of this brilliant idea I believe is strongly achieved; in the heart of Tirana this festival has already created a tradition. It means that this event is step by step becoming part of the artistic memory of the Albanians and not only of the Albanians.

I do believe that this year event will be as successful as other years and why not more successful than the previous editions.

I take the opportunity to greet all the guest artists and participants of this year edition of Tirana Film Festival, among them distinguished names of worldwide cinematography and as well I wish to congratulate with the organizers of such important festival.

Bujar Leskaj
Minister

December 2006

Greeting remark by the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports,

The second edition of “Tirana international Film Festival” proves the continuity of the initiative of Festival’s mastermind.

Now, Tirana has another film festival. The experience of the last edition shows that this festival is becoming a presentable and competitive institution, with his winners, comprising even known names of world cinematography.

With the professionalism “Tirana International Film Festival” bears, it deserves to be put alongside the most acquainted festivals, with many years of experience. The echo that this festival transmitted in many countries and evaluations that many cineastes did not hesitate to address to it, are arguments in favor of quality.

The Albanian Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports supported this festival since its birth and today we may say that the continuity of the organization is part not only in the cultural calendar, but also part of our cultural policies, included in the concept: Culture…the first bridge toward integration.

I wish Tirana International Film Festival success and continuity in the beautiful artistic competition.

Blendi Klosi
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports

December 2004

Greeting remark by the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, ARTA DADE

First of all, I would like to tell you that I feel very good at ease while addressing cinematographers, actors and film producers, and at the same time dubbing this event, which is very important for all of us: “Tirana Film Festival”, a festival which is being organized for the first time in Albania, an international festival, in which al authors feel that they are equal in the competition of film production.

Our cinematographers – despite the numerous obstacles they have to face – have often tried to make Albanian movies and take them to various festivals in Europe and beyond, but with the first step of this Festival, they are provided with the opportunity of presenting their films at home.

The Albanian Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports is glad to give its initial support to such event – with the hope that this will only be the beginning of a success story – because it sees in it creative and intellectual values of a great potential, which need support from state institutions, and which need to establish a tradition of their own.

I take this occasion to greet the originators of this event, Mr. Domi and Mr. Butka, who, with much strong will and commitment, are realizing their dream and goal of transforming Tirana into a center where film is going to speak in various languages, of contemporary schools and experiments.

I extend my best wishes to its first edition.

Dcember 2003

Greeting remark, by the Mayor of Tirana, EDI RAMA

Until four years ago, this city did not have a cinema, and could therefore be compared – by those who have experienced the magic of the big screen – with a windowless house. Today, from the magic window of our house – which is undergoing a lot of restoration – we are given the opportunity of glimpsing at eighty-two gardens of dreams, coming from all over the world. And, for such a special taste of variegated spiritual landscapes, which are going to be flashed in front of us, we should be grateful to the originators and organizers of the Tirana Film Festival.

Thanks to this Festival, Tirana is now eighty-two steps closer to its dream of being an attractive conventional sign in the international arts map.

December 2003

GREETING FROM THE ORGANIZERS - 2003

Dear friends,

We have the pleasure to inform you about the birth of a new film festival, Tirana Film Festival. This Festival will be added to the big but not sufficient number of the other film festivals around the world.

Every festival brings a new flavor or another color, which better completes the worldwide cinematographic atmosphere. We also hope that by organizing this festival we will add a small stone to the world multicolored mosaic.

Tirana Film Festival aims to be an international yearly activity, where the best achievements in the short film gender, fiction, animation or documentary can be mirrored. In this festival the authors will be professionally faced with the tendencies and the actual streams of the European and the Worldwide cinematography.

We think that this festival will help the cultural integration of the countries of the region with the rest of the world by facing the problematic and the concerns transmitted and materialized in the respective creations.

Finally, all the directors, who work to materialize their ideas through uncountable obstacles, are invited to become protagonists of the festival.

Wishing you a good work,

Agron Domi
Ilir Butka
Organizers of Tirana Film Festival
December 2003

Monday, November 12, 2007

WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT TIFF, 1st Edition 2003

Dear organizers,

Thank you so much again for this wonderful festival. I have just written to the Director of the Luxembourg Film Fund to tell him about your great programming, the organization and the hospitality ! This 1-st International Film Festival of Tirana will forever stay in my memory and I hope to come back for the next edition! I really appreciated the conversations I had with each one of you, you were all so open minded, bright, and full of positive energy! Thank you for your interest for my home made Chicken and a big hug to you, Ilir, Artes, Agron, Eni, Mandy, Ilir again, Gani (sorry for the spelling: if I miswrite your names, I won't forget your smiles, for sure !) and all the staff from the festival ! I wish you all the best and a very very long life to your Festival and Albanian Film Making!

LOVE FROM LUXEMBOURG!
Beryl Koltz
Filmmaker
LUXEMBOURG

...

Dear friends,

It was very nice to meet you and all the people in Tirana, I must say that your festival can be small, but very interesting and could have the special place on the festival map of Europe……
I want to thank you ones more for the wonderful time I have in Tirana and I hope I will be able to come back. I wish you a lot of success in what you are doing (and it works - slowly, but works, I have this experience after three years).

All the best

Andrea Prenghyová
Documentary Film Institute
Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC

...

Dear Agron, Ilir and to all the staff of T.I.F.F,

I am writing to you will much pleasure for thanking you for the hospitality and the respect that you showed to me. It was a pleasure as well to participate in this festival and at the same time an honor.
In Kosovo the TIFF is welcomed with joy and at KOSOVAFILM they made me a solemn reception for my award as the best film of TIFF. This was the biggest award that Kosova wins in 20 years after the movie Proka.

Thank you for all and hope to work together in a near future.

My best regards Buqja
Burbuqe Berisha
The winner of the best film of TIFF for 2003
Filmmaker, KOSOVA


...

Hello…

I’m back in Florence after a long trip of 14 hours….tired and confused of this unforgettable experience…. The festival…..the festival was far above of my expectations: the quality of the short movies very high, the attention of the media was incredible, the participation of the public, considering the fact that this was just the first edition of the Festival can be considered a good one and the organization just perfect. I hope that you are happy with this first edition, or not????
But I know that you and Agron are perfectionists and I am sure that you will get obsessed to improve this event that after some years will be taken as an example from the other European countries….
One of these days I will write to the director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Tirana just to express all my happiness of being a guest of the Festival and I will remark (with modesty) that I did not have the chance to meet him…..

Thank you, thank you, thank you …..

Giovanni Truppa
Filmmaker
ITALY

...

This message from France is just to say again how proud and happy I am for this time spent in Tirana as a jury member of TIFF. What you have done with your staff is a great work. I did not have doubts, but the result was higher than what I dreamt about. All the echoes that I received were very warm and really flattering on your regard. This festival is the real point of departure for a big collective adventure...

Luc Barnier
Chief – editor
Jury Member of TIFF
FRANCE


...

Thank you for the brilliant festival.

Blanka Elekes Szentagotai
“Screen International” magazine
Journalist
HUNGARY

Blanka Elekes Szentagotai in Bucharest 10 December 2003 04:05


The first edition of the Tirana International Film Festival ended with the best short film prize being awarded ex aequo to Italian director Alessandro Dominici’s The Last Gunman and Kosovan filmmaker Burbuqe Berisha’s Kosovo 9/11.

The festival, which ran from Dec 1 to Dec 7 featured 82 short films from 30 countries. The five-member jury made up by Cork Film Festival director Mick Hannigan, Genova Film Commission founder Andrea Rocco, Czech filmmaker Andrea Prenghyová, French editor Luc Barnier and local film director Gjergj Xhuvani, awarded the best fiction prize to the Swiss film The Stairs by Frederic Mermoud, while in the documentary category another Italian filmmaker, Simone Salvemini took home the award for his story of Albanian emigrants in the Italian town Brindisi, The Traffic-Lights Brothers.

Ukrainian filmmaker Stepan Koval’s multi-award winning The Tram No9 Goes was named best animation, while another Italian production, Andrea Adriatico’s Fists And A Sky Is Closing Over Me was given the best experimental film prize. Director Bujar Alimani’s The Kennel was named best Albanian film with a special mention going to Eno Milkani’s Abandoned Eden.

The festival’s media prize was also awarded to Burbuqe Berisha’s Kosovo 9/11, while the public’s choice was a Belgian production, Michel Vereecken’s You Should Make Movies.


...

My best compliments for organizing a wonderful film festival. I must say, you did a great job, guys! After an excellent time I had in Tirana I will always wish to come back.
All the best wishes!
Live long TIFF!

Burim Myftiu
Organizer of DOKUFEST
Prizeren, KOSOVA

...

Firstly, many thanks for a wonderful experience in Tirana. It was very special to be present at the birth of the festival and also to see what a great country Albania is, and what wonderful people are there.

Mick Hannigan (Director of Cork Film Festival, member of TIFF jury) and Una Feely
IRELAND

...

Thank you so much for a most enjoyable time at the 1st Tirana film festival.
Everyone I meet is delighted to hear what a great festival Tirana is..

Ron Holloway
Producer
USA / GERMANY

...

Thank you for all, I felt very well and not only for my victory!!

Alessandro Domenici
Filmmaker
Winner of the Best Film of TIFF
ITALY

...

After a 50-year isolation, the country shows the rare phenomenon of a centralized management of cinematography by the state, made with entirely propagandistic goals. The film production during this period reached levels, which can be considered as record with regard to the number of population in Albania. 15 fullk features, 20 documentaries, 16 animations per year, all made in one of the biggest institutions of the country with participation of the best representatives of the Albanian cinema. With the new political developments and the change of system after the `90s, the Albanian cinematography finds itself in the free trade's crossroad. Albania is starting to live up to its (lost) potential, with the 2003 Tirana Film Festival as the current highlight.

WATCHMOVIES
THE NETHERLAND

...

Dear TIFF,
Dear Agron & Ilir,...Once again, thank you very much for your hospitality and long life to the TIFF !
...Once again, I wanted to thank you very very much for this wonderful event that you have create in Albania. When I knew I was going to be once more in Tirana after my first trip 10 years ago, I knew that I would see a new country and that many things should have change... and, as you know, the “choc” was impressive !
I’m sure that you have create with the TIFF a very important event for the development of the cinema in Albania and a new way to promote the country, his charm, specificities and interest to the foreign countries....
...I think it could be helpful if I could show to those people an extract of the TV talk show and award evening of the festival. It is so rare that a festival can count on the public
Television to promote a film festival like that.
Thanks again and all the best to all of you.

Jean-Philippe Laroche
Producer
BELGIUM


...

There are no doubts that I consider it a great achievement holding an international film festival in Albania, especially one of short films, such as animation films and fictions. On the other hand, this is a very difficult job, as here in Albania films of this kind are only a few. I would consider this festival as original in its kind. When learning of the project from one of the organizers, Ilir Butka, I felt happy for the interest dedicated to the cinematographic art. I believe it will be a great success, as Agron Domi as well is a brilliant organizer. Even though I have not yet watched the films presented in the event, I can say that this festival is an initiative to be highly appreciated and at the same time supported with all the financial means available by the state institutions.

Fatmir Koçi
Director
ALBANIA

...

In my opinion, this international film festival is a confrontation of great values for the Albanian cinematography. Efforts made by Albanian filmmakers or film studios will have now a more well-defined vision. Only a confrontation of this kind can result in better ideas for a new production, because, as I have learned, these films will be screened also for the public. This is a very important element, as first, the Albanian public will be introduced to the developments of the world cinematography, and at the same time a different view will be presented on the participating films such as fiction, documentaries and animation.

Besnik Bisha
Director
ALBANIA

...

I believe that every initiative addressing the creation of a festival makes an opportunity to attract the public. In this respect, every activity of the kind should be welcomed. The festival in question is interesting indeed considering its organization, as it has found itself in the short film, a cinematographic genre that has not yet made its own position in Albania.
Further on, I think it is positive the fact that this is an international festival, which implies an attraction of productions by other countries and this is very useful. Fourth, the festival includes in its program the experimental film at a time when in national activities it has not been introduced as a practice. In this way, I believe that the festival attracts the public also with new experimental forms, bringing people closer to a new type of production. Fifth, the films participating in the festival have been realized not only in celluloid but also in the electronic way. Differently from other international festivals of other genres organized in Albania, this festival offers for the first time a material prize along with the moral one, and, of course, this initiative by the organizers makes the event more interesting.

Vladimir Prifti
Director
ALBANIA

...


It was the best chance during all these years to participate in such a unique event as the Short Film Festival in Tirana. The first International Film Festival marks a success not only for the organizers, but for all the Albanian filmmakers as well. I just wish all the best to this initiative hoping that TIFF will be one of the best known film festivals for short movies.
Every time a festival is held, it offers, besides its values, also stimulating emotions for the creative work of every filmmaker. I think it is a very positive sign that, even though Albanian filmmakers have participated in other international festivals in the world, it is the first time that such an event is initiated in Albania. It is a great thing that different cultures, different productions are screened and involved in a competition here. I will call the festival a success in the road of Albanian cinematography, being it an alternative for more important developments in this field. As a matter of fact, by having already participated in international festivals, Albania is certainly competitive in this arts field, considering at the same time the fact that it is a relatively new cinematography as compared to other European countries. In this viewpoint it has awakened interest and has shown that there are efforts to work with all means in achieving high levels.

Mevlan Shanaj
Director
ALBANIA

...

It is an important and happy event. I am well aware of what it means to organize a festival of this kind in Albania. Selecting films from all over the world and ranking in this variety of values the Albanian ones is to me a great cultural event. It does not matter whether you win a prize in the festival, as I believe the most important thing is that we will experience a celebration of the film.

Saimir Kumbaro
Director
ALBANIA


...


It took me some time to get over the great experience I had with you in Tirana.
A BIG thank you to everybody involved, the organisation was absolutely amazing when one knows it was a first!
Long live TIFF, I'm sure it's only the beginning of an already very successful festival. I miss you guys a lot too, it was really really strange for me when I
got back to Paris. It took me some time to find the taste to do anything. When I got back, people were asking after your country, people are curious because nobody knows anything about it yet.

Vincent Hazard
Filmmaker
FRANCE


...


I am not stop thinking about your wonderful festival, beautiful city, and amazing country.
I have no words to describe the amazing and unforgettable week I had in Tirana, in your festival. I am really appreciated your warm welcoming and hospitality. I meet unique people, colorful and beautiful places and saw very interesting films. I think you are doing very influential thing and having a main part in a very important cultural revolution of your country.
I hope I will see you again in Tirana or Israel.
I am sending you a sign for luck and blessing (called “Hamsa”). It written in Hebrew and it’s a little pray for luck, success, happiness and greeting.

Ido Haar
Filmmaker
ISRAEL

Albania: Tirana Film Festival

Il primo di questo tipo in Albania. “Per vivacizzare la scena culturale di un Paese che pur nelle ristrettezze economiche è riuscito in questi anni a proporre alcuni successi internazionali”, dichiarano gli organizzatori. (26/11/2003) Si inaugurerà l’1 dicembre il primo festival del cortometraggio a Tirana. Promosso dal Ministero della cultura e dal Comune della capitale albanese includerà quattro categorie: fiction, documentario, cartone animato e sperimentale. Gli organizzatori hanno annunciato che saranno 83 i lavori proiettati, provenienti da trenta diversi Paesi del mondo.La selezione dei cortometraggi è stata fatta da un gruppo di registi sia albanesi che stranieri. Sono loro ad aver scelto questi 83 corti, dopo averne visionato circa 345. Nella giuria che assegnerà invece i premi tra gli altri Gjergj Xhuvani, autore del film proiettato anche in alcune sale italiane titolato “Slogans”, il regista irlandese Mick Hannigan, direttore del film festival “Cork”, e dal francese Luc Barnier. Andrea Rocco, Film Comission Genova.Secondo quanto affermato dagli organizzatori è la prima volta che in Albania si intraprende in campo cinematografico un’iniziativa di tale livello internazionale. Certo in un momento del tutto particolare nel quale l’arte e la cultura albanese si stanno profondamente trasformando. In campo cinematografico negli ultimi anni sono nate molte case cinematografiche che lavorano in stretta collaborazione con il Centro della cinematografia albanese. Quest’ultimo è l’unica istituzione statale che in questi anni ha sostenuto la realizzazione di alcuni film anche se non ha mai smesso di dare segni di difficoltà: molti i progetti cinematografici che vengono avviati nel Paese e scarsi i fondi a disposizione.Secondo il giornale “Balkan” la mancanza di una strategia nazionale a favore di arte e cultura ha portato la cinematografia albanese in una situazione difficile. Prima dei sconvolgenti anni novanta il cinema albanese produceva annualmente una quindicina di lungometraggi, venti documentari, e più di una decina di cartoni animati. Ora la produzione è cambiata ed il Centro cinematografico si limita a finanziare solo gli autori conosciuti, che danno ‘adeguate garanzie artistiche’, mentre vengono lasciati fuori i giovani artisti. Questi ultimi sono allora costretti a trovare spazi e collaborazioni all’estero. In una conferenza stampa d’introduzione del festival gli organizzatori hanno affermato che ciò che li ha spinti a promuovere un’iniziativa di questo tipo era la volontà di rilanciare e ravvivare la scena culturale di Tirana e di far conoscere anche all’estero la tradizione cinematografica albanese e balcanica. Perché cortometraggi? Perché hanno un carattere estremamente dinamico ed innovativo. Nonostante le continue ristrettezze economiche negli ultimi anni l’Albania ha conosciuto vari successi a livello internazionale. Tra questi il film “Slogans”, del regista Gjergj Xhuvani, “Lettere al vento” di Edmond Budina, “Il giardino dell’Eden” documentario di Eno Milkani, “Tirana, anno zero”, documentario di Fatmir Koçi.
Artan Puto © Osservatorio sui Balcani
December 2003

First Tirana International Film Festival (1-7 December 2003)

Ron Holloway, GEP/Interfilm, 18 January 2004

“Welcome to the Tirana Short Film Festival” runs a patch on the festival’s website, and click - you’re in the domain of one of the most sophisticated festival launches on the net today, one that easily puts other festival websites to shame. Organized by filmmakers Agron Domi and Ilir Butka under the auspices of the Albanian Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, in conjunction with the Foundation of Art Media Albania (FAMA), the First Tirana International Film Festival (TIFF), scheduled 1-7 December 2003, is officially known as “The First International Festival in Albania for Short Fiction, Documentary, Animation, and Experimental Films.” A month before the festival even opened, TIFF served notice that 82 short films had been selected from 30 countries, that cash awards would be given in seven categories, and that a five-member international jury headed by Ireland’s Mick Hannigan (director of the Cork Film Festival) would pick the winners. Furthermore, to show just how serious the staff was, the website offered photos of the screening halls, the flagship Tirana International Hotel, and the full list of participating entries by country, director, and year of production. Publishing a list of entries in advance can be dangerous, given the plethora of film festivals towards the end of the season. But not a hitch in the schedule occurred. If the print of a film didn’t arrive in time, hitech Betacam video projection in the state-of-the-art Cinema Millennium 2 venue assured satisfactory viewing for jury and public. Further, a daily journal offered interviews with directors and guests. And a two-hour late-night TV talk show covered all the highlights of the day. On more than one occasion, codirectors Agron Domi and Ilir Butka repeated to press and visitors the festival’s mission to become a key player on the short film festival circuit. “The Tirana Film Festival aims to be an annual international event, where the best achievements in the short film gender can be mirrored, whether fiction or animation or documentary.” To underscore this pledge, the staff erected an oversized director’s chair before the entrance of Cinema Millennium 2 - upon which posed a laughing baby doll! Four years ago, Tirana didn’t even have a cinema to program films. Then investors arrived on the scene, and the government made film, television, and the media one of its priorities. After all, in the heyday of Albanian socialism, as many as ten feature films were produced annually in the Tirana Film Studios. Whether these days will ever return in questionable, but no matter - the city is a playground for private cable channels and a thriving video piracy market. In fact, until the government recently passed a restrictive media law, DVDs from around the world were broadcast on the wildcat channels. Presently, some Albanian film students journey to nearby Pristina in Kosovo to study cinema, the fruits of which could be seen among the half-dozen Albanian entries contenting for prizes at TIFF 2003. And not enough can be said about impact two Albanian feature film directors have made on the international scene: Fatmir Koci (Tirana Year Zero, 2001) and Gjergj Xhuvani (Slogans, 2001). Currently, Fatmir Koci is developing an international coproduction project: the story of Wilhelm of Wied, a German prince who briefly ruled Albania in 1913 after the expulsion of the Turks and on the eve of the First World War. As everywhere else in the major cities of Southeastern Europe, Tirana is internet friendly and computer connected. Computerized subtitles in Albanian were beamed onto the screen, although English is the lingua franca for all practical purposes. Out of pure audience delight, the TIFF voted a special award to a Dutch director: the Jos Stelling Triptych. The short features - The Waiting Room (1996), The Gas Station (1999), and The Gallery (2003) - belong to the collection of 30 Erotic Tales produced by Berlin-based Regina Ziegler.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

From The Petition

I am a director who believes in the international importance of film festivals. Without these wonderful outlets for world cinema our film culture would suffer greatly. I imagine an international festival such as Tirana is of the utmost importance in the exchange of Albanian culture with that of the world at large. - ALEXANDRE ROCKWELL (Film Director)
...................................................................................................................
Dear Minister, as director of the Warsaw International Film Festival and Board member of the European Film Academy I would like to express my support for our friends from the Tirana International Film Festival. We are in contact since the beginning of TIFF existence and I must say they are doing a tremendous job, promoting both European and world cinema in Albania and Albanian culture in Europe. TIFF is a part of our European Film Family. Film festivals are very fragile and without your kind support they will cease to exist. - STEFAN LAUDYN (Festival Director)
...................................................................................................................
TIFF is a fundamental cultural resource for all the Albanian territory. TIFF is the best way to show the best of Albania in the world. Don't forget! - SIMONE SALVEMINI (Festival Director, BRIFF)
...................................................................................................................
SAVE TIRANA FILM FESTIVAL ONE OF THE BEST SHORTFILM FESTIVAL IN EUROPE! -GIOVANNI TRUPPA (Film Director)

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

FACTS AND FIGURES OF 5th EDITION - 07



About 800 films from 65 different countries all over the world have applied in edition of TIFF, 316 authors applied in the category of fiction, 85 in animation, 95 in documentary, and 94 in experimental.

Afghanistan / Albania / Argentina / Australia / Austria / Bangladesh / BelgiumBelorussia / Brazil / Canada / China / Croatia / Cyprus / Czech Republic / Denmark / Deutschland / Egypt / England / Finland / France / Greece / Hong Kong /HungaryIndia / Iran / Ireland / Israel / I taly / Japan / Kosova / Latvia / Lebanon / Luxemburg / Macedonia / Malta /Mexico / Montenegro / Netherlands / Nigeria / Norway / Panama/ Peru / Poland /Portugal / Romania / Russia /Schweiz / Scotland / Serbia / Singapore/Slovenia / South /Korea / Spain / Sudan / Sweden / Taiwan / Thailand / Turkey / Uganda / Ukraine / United Arab Emirates / USA / Wales






Save Tirana International Film Festival


Petition to The Minister of Tourism, Culture,
Youth and Sports of Albania, Mr. Ylli Pango
was created by
PEOPLE OF FESTIVAL
and written by Festival Organizators


Click Here to Sign Petition

To: The Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports of Albania, Mr. Ylli Pango

The Tirana International Film Festival, created in 2003, is based in a simple trinity, the filmmakers, the public and the festival financial supporters.

In these five years, TIFF managed to represent the largest ever network generated from Albania that was able to gather FILMMAKERS from over 70 countries all around the World and to facilitate the circulation of more than 4000 films, the exchange of their respective techniques, point of views, themes and diversity of cultural values.

The Tirana International Film Festival, relying on the work, the passion and expertise of its staff and collaborators acted in these 5 years to promote the Albanian cinema in the World, via numerous actions (film retrospectives and not only) that respond to the real need of the industry and of the international audiences. But what does really make the difference, speaking on terms of human relations, are the citizens of the cities where film festivals are held.

From their reaction, from the reaction of the public highly depends the success of a film festival. The PUBLIC of Tirana, the public of Albania in these years of existence of TIFF showed that the International Film Festival is a more than needed event in a culturally fast growing capital. The TIFF counts about 3000 Albanian spectators per year.

While the two pillars, the filmmakers and the public, the PEOPLE OF FESTIVAL become stronger and stronger, this year, in the fifth anniversary of TIFF, the sudden and inexplicable disengagement of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports, which was the main financial supporter of the Festival, put TIFF in a very difficult situation.

There is no official reply to our requests, until now, for financing TIFF project in its 2007 edition.
TIFF decided to respond jointly to this situation by publicly reacting through this petition.

We do really feed the hope that Tirana Film Festival has more and more followers that do really want TIFF existence, for the best of the culture of Albania and for our integration through culture.

THAT IS WHY, WE APPEAL TO YOU TODAY, PEOPLE OF FESTIVAL, FOR YOUR ACTIVE SUPPORT.

WE ASK YOU, PEOPLE OF FESTIVAL, TO SUPPORT THE ACTION OF TIFF BY SIGNING THIS PETITION.

Sincerely,