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The cinematography, as a sign of human attempts for new communicative ways derived from the social development and from the desire to memorize things that can be lost forever, was born in Balkans inside a vast colonial territory of the Ottoman Empire during its agony. The cinematography, this moving art much more than the photography tries to impede the death of time and much of eternity elements are bought from the heaven to the earth, influencing the construction of much more human society.
The photograph becomes the cover-sheet of list new panhuman art, testifying that no one small impede the forces and personal attempts of the humans, the only one connecting a cultural heredity with another one. Exactly in this period in Balkans initiated the chronicle shootings, who determined the important role to be played in cinematography from the cameraman. During the confrontation between social collective forces and state organisms, the man himself becomes triumphant, trying to hold the camera in his own hands.
Much later we'll see the name of the film director, in phases when the history of a country passing the second world war, overtook all the cinematography development, we're rendering homepage today to the dozens of beginners of the Albanian cinematography , who showed us that in the latter history the names of Albanian cineastes, born and shaped inside a precise identity, cannot be enclosed in an official envelope. But we can see the deep rots on the Balkans tradition and communication.
Two years after the bird of the cinematography, concretely in 1897, the film box is found as magic into the open roads of nomads, or in the cultivated center of Albanian art-lovers. And this was more than natural. Film's language entered into Albania between roads that Albanians has created from centuries with their continent. Albania, this country of western Balkans, has been a center of crossing and circulation of different products, ideas and cultures, which gave her multicultural features. Albanians start to live this new image language too, and between it, a community, which still lives in a tired colonial empire, receives a sign of passing from the nineteenth century to the twentieth. It is interesting to view in this period how the man's eye, in Albania, too, as in the entire Balkans and world, requests help to its second eye, that of camera. This is a new level of human society's conscience, which next to the letters language gives birth to the image language.
Film image had to face the Albanian fantasy, of western Balkan, crossed always in contacts with other worlds. We can't understand Balkans and Albania without this huge and open circulation, as exotic as adventurous thousand-years beginnings to the long colonial eastern empire periods, deep penetrations often covered by dust, old Balkans exchange of worlds, events and histories which connect you with the whole world. From the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, the whole Balkans enters into its new-programmed epoque or new exchanges and of circulation of the idea of human and national freedom. It is the same Janina with its territories where Manakis family has been living, family of Balkans cinematography creators, Milto and Janaq Manakis. The colonial empire government cannot interrupt the thousand -year traditional links and due to this internal human potential the Albanian activity is laid from Istanbul up to the western European cultural centers , with which were kept continues links.
"Pushes of different communities, of most messy parts, wanted to do the immunity or internal self-administration, which some did achieve before and some after".( "Nationalism" by Elie Kodourie, British Academy), as well as Albania achieved its own independence in 1912. Cinematography has entered in Albaia before the creation of the Albanian State. Under a long five hundred years colonialism of the ottoman power that had increased even more communication surfaces. "A different and differentiated community, Balkans hundred years, is gradually split up in pieces, without strictly dividing the different nation's people from each other". ("Nationalism" by Elie Kodourie). These have been natural and open developments. In this land where the nations were coming into being and territorial conflicts happened, there were cases where there were not known territorial borders within which each group could come together to build a state nation and this was that natural too. In this natural legalization of people circulation and moving, the Ottoman Empire was interested for administrative multicultural devices, going further with national states in the twentieth century, in that sense. 'where you can become independent, if you rely in this national doctrine" (Nationalism, by E.K). So, the vilajet of Manastir, the land where births the language of Balkans image, becomes one of the most open point of the circulation of people and ideas, and of the birth of the cinematographic language between the big Balkans creators Janaq and Malto Manakis. Images language births in Balkans as a need of fixation and expression in the image language, from these multicultural features and interlinked moves, as well as this new girth of identities. It was the screen's peace. Seems that Brothers Manakis, with their filmic and photographic camera, were cared to follow chronic of time. In this direction their attention is directed in all Balkans percels, creating a complete equilibrium. We are so ina land of continues links with the centers of world cultures, which has always treid to challenge the circulation of backwardness, medival obscurantist mentalities, pressures from one group to another and other big pressures that brought the first and second Balkans war. Ideological conflicts have caused the interruption of the contracts of a people with another, or of a culture with another, exactly in its most open points of peoples. It is this troubled period which gives to Albanians two industrialized arms, the arm and the cinematography set, which as it seem provoke even biggest game of industrializing the spirit world, which can be done only by the cinematography. The cinematography image born in Albania during the '40 cannot be detached from this imagination of the free human being under a very forced control. The cinematography becomes another kind of peace communication. It was the language of the new winners.
In the year 1957, ten years after the first chronicle recordings, had started the marathon of the Albanian artist film production. The cinematography was taking its path after the forgotten struggles and difficulties and sacrifices. This was the only play that engaged many efforts and did seek the attention of the Party official and the public. This myth of the monofilm was broken ten years later as to say ten years in making a step ahead . In the year 1967 ten years after the first film of a long length were created two films in a year. Later in the 1969 with some struggles they managed to produce for the first time four films including long documentaries. An outstanding place used to take the enthusiasm about cinematography.
With the growth of the production has started the interval competition of the film and the possibilities of expression. "The new Albania" was created in the yaer 1953 by the government. During the 1970s , it managed to create a line of production. The point was not one or two films but many films that reached the zenith in the year 1979. With 14 films in a year besides a big number of documentaries. This firs stars and personalities of the film were born. They were fed by rich cultural traditions. With the growth of the Albanian production foreign films were appearing rarely in the Albanian screen. The state this big producer did not want any other competitor inside Albania. The success of the Albanian Film was not a commercial success. The purpose was that as the people's life was dominated in the same way the cinema screen should be dominated too. More official remained the critics. The highest evolution used to come to the enigmatic corner separated from others where the enigmatic official used to sit accompanied by few people. That was the number of the Albania. But the film had its own magic and could straight speak with the public and more openly with the cinematograph that used to face and compare their works value at the festival.
Although with difficulties, their remain popular in the Albanian society as holders of the first intellectual private property of the author's right and of the world's expression from where they were born.
The need for competition for feeling and understanding better each other had born naturally.
The history of maturity for the Albanian Cinematography from the year 1976 till the year 2000 is the history of eleven Film Festival from the festival of happiness and accomplishments until The festival of social anxiety 91 and of free expression 2000.
The great heroism the survival, the revolt against the injustice of the occupation was themes which dominate the movies. The screen becomes a big sliding field where the authors run to find the human details, the history of human struggles covered by the event of evaluation and encouragement. From the human melodrama till art house, from the film as monument till the new parody the Albanian cinematography is a way of communication and na of exchanges. The peace is to understand each other. The film is to understand each other.