East of the West - Competition 2009 / Alive! / Albania, Austria, France 2009
Koli, a student, returns to his native mountain village to attend his father’s funeral. When someone takes a shot at him, he is alarmed to discover that he is ostensibly a victim of a blood feud sparked by his grandfather sixty years earlier. How deeply entrenched in people are the traditions of their forebears? And to what extent are they able to accept them as part of their modern, superficial lifestyle?, asks director Artan Minarolli in this psychological film drama.
Twenty-two-year-old Koli is studying at Tirana university. When he hears of his father’s death, he returns to his native mountain village in the north to attend the funeral. During a walk through the countryside of his childhood, someone takes a shot at him. In a state of shock, the young man discovers that he is part of a blood feud sparked by his grandfather sixty years earlier. He goes to see the family to whom, according to custom, he owes his life – and, in doing so, he makes the acquaintance of the murderer whom fate has determined will take it. Away from his modern urban environment, Koli suddenly finds himself in a world of ancient, inexorable rituals, from which he is unable to extricate himself even after his return to Tirana. How deeply entrenched in people are the traditions of their forebears? And to what extent are they able to accept them as part of their modern, superficial lifestyle? How far-reaching is the perception of one’s own destiny and affinity with one’s roots? Director Artan Minarolli dedicated his film drama to the eighty-six illegal immigrants who drowned off the coast of Italy during an attempt to flee their native country in March 1997.
90 min / Color, 35 mm
World premiere
Director Artan Minarolli
/ Screenplay Artan Minarolli
/ Dir. of Photography Jacques Bouquin
/ Music Baptiste Bouquin
/ Editor Oliver Neumann
/ Producer Ebba Sinzinger, Vincent Lucassen, Artan Minarolli, Marie Balducchi
/ Production WILDart Film
/ Cast Nik Xhelilaj, Bruno Shllaku, Besart Kallaku, Nijada Saliasi, Xhevdet Ferri
/ Contact WILDart Film
www: www.alive-thefilm.com
Artan Minarolli (b. 1958, Tirana) graduated in 1982 after studying fine art at the University of Tirana, Albania. He graduated in film direction from Albafilm Studio in Tirana ten years later. He worked as an assistant director, e.g. for director Spartak Pecani on his film Incessant Words (Fjalë pa fund, 1986). His documentary For a Centimetre (Për një centimetër) was awarded at the International Sport Film Festival in Turin. Together with Petrik Ruka he co-directed the drama One Hundred Percent (Quind për Qind, 1993) and the film The Clay Bullet (Plumbi prej plasteline, 1994). In 2004 he directed the award-winning psychological drama The Moonless Night (Nata pa hënë), made in an Albanian-French coproduction; the film had successful screenings at various festivals, including the Rotterdam IFF.
WILDart Film
Pfeilgasse 32/1, 1080, Vienna
Austria
Phone: +43 1 595 2991
Fax: +43 1 595 2991 21
E-mail: [email protected]
Artan Minarolli
Film Director / Producer
Kreshnik Xhelilaj
Actor
Emir Gramo
Film Crew
Ebba Sinzinger
Producer
Martin Schweighofer
Film Institution Rep.
Luli Bitri
Actress
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