“FERR” ASHT XEHER!"

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Intervista
“FERR” ASHT XEHER!"
Nga Eki Rrahmani, Londer
Oct 27, 2005, 15:29

S’po filloj me asnji hymje sivjet për London Film Festival. Qëllimisht, sepse po du me hy në “Ferr”.
Fillova me shkru për “Ferr-in” 15 minuta pasi përfundoi filmi.
S’me pritej aspak për me i shkarku këto mendime për filmin prej kreje.
“Ferr” asht titulli i filmit të dytë të Danis Tanovic’it, regjisorit nga Bosna.
“Ferr” më mbushi jetë. “Ferr” ma dha nji injeksion adrenaline n’tru. M’bani me mendue për jetën....
Jetë o Jetë...
Jeta asht tash. Jetoje!
Jo vetëm që “Ferr” m’shtini llugave, po m’bani edhe me vrapu si i trentë rrugëve të Londrës. Ma zi, ma kish pas humbë edhe orientimin. Mekanikisht i përcillja kambët, e trunin e kisha lanë n’errësinën e kinemasë “Odeon”, West End.
Konstatova se paska kohë që s’paskam hy n’këso ujna. Nashta prej filmit të Elia Sulejman, ‘Divine Intervention’.
Po thom, moti, moti, nuk ka mujt asnji film tjetër me m’prekë aq shumë në shpirt .
Asi t’prekne...që s’mbahet n’mend...që t’çon peshë!
Në kësi stadi, e me refrenin e muzikes “Ferr”, që mu kish ngul n’tru, mbërrita te lumi “Thames”.
Më ndjekte ende ai film.
Paterna e filmit, ‘storyline’, montazhi, aktrimi, skenari, lëvizja e kamerës, ngjyrat - MJESHTËRIA.
“Ferr” asht përjetim.
Trajektorja e këtij përjetimi fillon nga Medea, e nëpër Bosne deri ku mundet imagjinata me t’çu...diku në gjithësi, e pastaj kthehet mbrapa në shpirt dhe ban kërdi..
“Ferr” të turbullon krejtësisht.
“Ferr” të ban me vrapu.
Asht nji prej atyne seneve të mira që, s’e di pse, të mbushin energji e të bajnë me i dhanë vrap.
Danis Tanovic me “Ferr” kishte zbërthy e ç’zbërthy, e pastaj gatu e rigatu, personazhet dhe tregimin në mënyrë fantastike.
“Ferr” asht xeher.
“Ferr” m’bani me shiju jetën sikurse e kisha shiju jetën n’ato sekondat e gjata si shekuj që i kam përjetu gjatë fundit të 80ve, tuj i gju me gur milictë.
“Ferr” asht i bazuem në skenarin e regjisorit polak Krysztof Kieslowski dhe bashkëpunëtorit të tij, skenaristit Krzysztof Piesiewicz.
I shkruem disa vjet para vdekjes së Kieslowskit, asht pjesa e dytë e trilogjisë "Heaven – Hell - Purgatory", që ishte bazue në “Ferrin” e Dantes.
Tanovic me mjeshtëri e kishte zbërthy skenarin, tue krijue tension dramatik dhe nji ndërlidhmëni fanatastike të tregimeve sa edhe Robert Altman kishte me i pasë zili.
Asht krejt tregim tjetër krahasue me “No Man’s Land” (filmi i parë i tij). Po, prapë se prapë, në “Ferrin” e Tanovicit gjenë shumë referenca nga Ballkani, të cilat shkrihen aq mirë në dashuni a në dhimbje të personazheve, në lëvizje të kamerës, në zgjedhjen e ngjyrave, apo karshi ‘set-it’ - Parisit.
Pikërisht filmat si “Ferr” e vështirësojnë ndjekjen e filmave tjerë në festival. Se ata të marrin me vehte e të shtjerrin apetitin.

Nji të nesme festivali, me ndihmën e organizatorëve të London Film Festival, pata sukses me kontaktu Danisin dhe ai pranoi me e ba nji intervistë për “Javën”.
Ishte mëngjes Tetori n’Londër.
Çudi, jo vetëm nuk binte shi, po edhe dielli rrezonte.
Isha tuj ec drejt qendrës kur, qe ishin çu londinezët me mëngjes, me mija, dhe e kishin okupu sheshin “Trafalgar”.
U interesova. Mos ka fillu Bushi naj luftë t’re? Kuptova se ata ishin dalë me kujtu nji “Adem Jashar” të vetin. Ishte përvjetori i betejes së Trafalgar’it dhe heroit të tyne Nelson.
Kështu, u desht me i ra rreth-e-qark sheshit, e mbas pak e gjeta veten në Sofitel, ku në nji ambient jozyrtar e shumë friendly, LFF organizon ‘breakfast with filmmakers’.
Meniren e rregullova dozën e kafeinit dhe mbas pak e gjeta veten tuj folë me nji gjuhë që ka kohë që nuk e kam folë:

“Ja sam Eki, iz Pristine. Zivim u Londonu , a inace pisem za “Java”, nedeljni magazin na Kosovu...Kako si...Sta ima?...”
E masanej e vazhdova me: “My Bosninan is bad, it has been a long time....”
Kështu, me nji boshnjakqe të ndryshkun, fillova intervistën me Danis Tanovic, regjisor, i njoftun në tanë botën si fitues i Çmimit “Oscar 2001”, për filmin ma të mirë të huej “No Man’s Land”, si dhe të 42 çmimeve tjera, në mesin e tyne edhe “ Prix du scénario” në “Cannes Film Festival” me 2001, dhe “Golden Globe Award” për “Best Foreign Language Film”, me 2002.
Danis Tanovic, nji djal i ri boshnjak nga Zenica, në festivalin e sivjem n’Londër erdhi me filmin e tij të dytë, “Ferr”.
Tanovic ka ni ngjashmëni fizike me Bekim Fehmiun. Për fillim, në vend të kaftjallit, si ballkanas i vërtetë, kërkoi vetëm – nji tak-e-tuke duhani.







KUR PUNON ME NJERËZ TË MIRË




JAVA: Çka asht “Ferr”?

DANIS TANOVIC: “Ferr” jemi na, tanë na, njerëzia.

JAVA: Prej filmit “No Man’s Land” në “Ferr”. Po si erdhët te “Ferr”?

DANIS TANOVIC: (Mbas nji t’keshme koxha t’gjatë, Tanovic tuj i shiku gazetarët tjerë që na kishin rrethu, tha) A din çka, na nuk kemi kohe mjaft për me folë për këte send. Shkurt, asht nji projekt që e kam lexu para nji kohe shumë të gjatë. Vitin e kaluem isha tuj punu diçka tjetër, e ai projekt befasisht u ndal, kështu që, kur merr parasysh opcionet që i kisha në tavolinë, ky ishte opcioni që më tërhjeku ma së shumti. Më pëlqeu skenari.

JAVA: Sa i rrini besnik skenarit? Tana ato ndërcopëtime janë në skenar?

DANIS TANOVIC: Paj, shiko, shumica e tyne parashikohen në skenare. Në disa vende ndërrova renditjen e disa skenave. Po mendoj, kur e bamë montazhin, i bamë edhe disa rokada, por prapë-se-prap- i qëndruem besnik skenarit origjinal. Nuk ndërrova asgja në strukturë.

JAVA: Nji send tjetër që m’ka lanë mbresa të mëdha asht zgjedhja e kamerës/ndriçimit, e sidomos pamja e filmit. Si vendoset për asi lloj pamje, gati si me qenë në botën e reklamave?

DANIS TANOVIC: Reklamave, pse a po menoni që filmi duhet me u dokë si reklamë?

JAVA: Jo, por filmi ta jepë nji ndjenjë të tillë...mendoj se jam tue ju ba komplimente juve me këtë konstatim...Asht me të vërtetë fantastik.

DANIS TANOVIC: OK, e mora vesh se çka po doni me thanë. Paj...fotografia e Hitchcok’ut doket si reklamë poashtu, ajo e David Lynch’it njajt. Une vetëm e ndjeva se ky tregim duhet me u ba në këte manir. Në “No Man’s Land” nu ka pasë vend për nji stil të tillë, por në “Ferr” m’bahej se duhet me e shtye këte stil ma tepër. Dhe, për këte arsye edhe e xhiruem në ate mënyrë.

JAVA: Po...kam ndigju se keni kërku specialisht që me kamerë e ndriçim të punoni me Laurent Dailland? Pse bash ai?

DANIS TANOVIC: Pikë s’pari, e kam pa punën e tij që ka ba ma para, e n’anën tjetër Cedomir, producenti jem, e njef shumë mirë dhe m’tha se asht shumë burr i mirë. E une gjithmonë preferoi me punue me njerëz të mirë. Kjo asht me randësi për mu - me punue me njerë të mirë. Njof shumë kameramana që janë super të mirë, po n’anën tjetër jane ‘pain in the ass’, e une me ta s’kam qejf me punu. Mundohem kësi njerëz me i vu n’shmang sa ma shumë.

JAVA: Në “No Man’s Land”, shumica e aktorëve ishin mashkuj, kurse në “Ferr” shumica janë femna. Si ishte ta përjetosh këte ndryshim?

DANIS TANOVIC: Ndërrimi më pëlqen, por, n’anën tjetër, për mu kjo krejt asht njisoj. Mue me interesojnë dy sene. E para: skenari dhe çka due me ba me te. Nëse nuk e pëlqej skenarin, atëhere nuk muj me punue. E dyta: gjithmonë jam i interesuem me ba diçka që nuk e kam ba përpara. Më duhet gjithmonë me mësue diçka t’re. Nuk muj me i përsëritë senet që tashma i kam ba. Të siguroj se kurrë nuk ke me e pa “No Man’s Land 2 ose 3”.

JAVA: Tue e konsiderue përvojën tande me filma dokumentarë gjatë luftës...kur ke punue në “homeground”...si ishte kur punove në “Ferr”, në nji ambient plotësisht tjetër?

DANIS TANOVIC: Po edhe ky film asht ‘homeground’ për mue tashti.
Sot une kam krijue familje, kështuqë familja asht ‘homeground’ për mue. Në njifarë mënyre, gjithmonë asht se nuk mundesh me ba filma për sene që nuk i kupton.
Kështuqë, gjithmon gjen pika apo kande që njeriu i din.

JAVA: Po praktikisht, në kuader (skenë) si punoni? Çfarë stili, me prova, pa prova?
Stili i punës me aktorë? Cili asht sektreti i Danis Tanovic?

DANIS TANOVIC: Shiko, s’ka sekrete këtu. Per mue krejt mvaret prej skenarit dhe në cilën skenë jam tuj punue. Si dhe, natyrisht, me çfarë aktorë kam punë. Nëse e kam nji skenë që do t’bahet skenë e aktorëve, si me thanë, ku aktorët dëshirojnë me eksperimentue, atëhere une i la senet me u zhvillue n’ate mënyrë. Do t’ishte çmenduni me veprue ndryshe.

JAVA: Sandra Hebron, drejtoresha e programit të festivalit LLF, kur e prezentoi filmin u shpreh se asht bukur me e pa se si Tanovic e ka ndërrue stilin krejtësisht. Mirëpo, kur e shikova filmin mendova plotësisht të kundërtën. Menoj, tregimi asht tjetër plotësisht, por ka shumë frymë Ballkani aty. Me cilin mendim ishit pajtu ju?

DANIS TANOVIC: Nuk mendoj se dikush mundet me e ndërrue stilin ashtu...krejtësisht. Ndoshta në “No Man’s Land” nuk e kam lëvizë kameren ashtu si e kam lëviz në “Ferr”, po, n’anën tjetër, pajtohem që prapë anon kah Ballkani.

JAVA: M’fal për naivitetin, po vetëm deshtame e dijtë nji gja: pse e keni përdorë librin e Mesa Selimovic’it në film? Pse bash ate libër?

DANIS TANOVIC: Jo, jo...mirë e keni hetue. Ka mujt me qenë çfarëdo libri. Në skenar asht e shkrueme se ai (protagonisti) lexon poezi...Mue si i ri Mesa m’ka lanë shumë mbresa dhe për këte arsye e kam vnu aty. Kam pas mundësi me zgjedhë diçka që une di dhe, n’anën tjetër, shkon mirë me personazhin, kështuqë vendosa për Mesa Selimovic’in.

JAVA: Muzika. E pashë në titrat e fundit që jeni kompozitor.

DANIS TANOVIC: Une kam qenë vetëm mbikqyrës. Kryesori ka qenë Dusko Segvic. Ai asht nji i ri, shumë i talentuem dhe shpresoj se “Ferr” ka me i ndihmue në karrierën e tij.

JAVA: Ajo muzikë, ai refren...ende e kam n’krye...

DANIS TANOVIC: Shumë mirë...shkrueje këte send.

JAVA: Ke punue me Cedomir Kolar’in ma para, në filmat tjerë. Çfarë efekti ka pasë fitimi i “Oscar’it” në marrëdhaniet regjisor-producent, ose çfarë ndikimi ka pasë fitimi i “Oscar’it” n’ty? Ka ndryshue gja?

DANIS TANOVIC: Nuk asht se njeriu ndryshon aq shumë ose se senet ndryshojnë aq shumë kur e fiton “Oscar’in”. Une ende jam i njajti njeri, veçse bota më shikon ndryshe. Sa i përket Cedomir’it, ne jemi shokë, kemi qejf me punu bashkë. Me folë për politikë e sene-vene, edhe e kemi nji kompani bashkë.

JAVA: Çka asht seni i ardhshëm për Danis Tanovic’in?

DANIS TANOVIC: I kemi tri projekte në paraprodhim. Jemi kompani e vogël dhe për me mbijetu na duhet me e ba sendin që ma s’pari e ka buxhetin. Por, ende nuk e dijmë se cili ka me qenë...

MA NË FUND EDHE FESTIVALI I FILMIT SHQIP

Nga Gazetajava.com

MA NË FUND EDHE FESTIVALI I FILMIT SHQIP
Nga Eki Rrahmani, Londer
Oct 21, 2005, 14:15
Vetëm dhetë ditë para fillimit të ‘London Film Festival’, në një qoshe të Londrës perëndimore, pranë lumit Thames, në të famshmen “Riverside Studios”, prej 05-09 Tetor u organizue stinori i parë i Filmit Shqiptar.
Gjatë katër ditëve u paraqitën filma të metrazhit të gjatë si dhe të shkurtë nga Shqipëria e Kosova. Për fat të keq, mungoi filmi “Slloganet” i Gjergj Xhuvanit, që u pat shfaq n’Londër n’BFI, si dhe “Kukumi” i Isa Qosjes.
Hera e mbramë që në mënyrë të denj u paraqitën shqiptarët n’Riverside ka qenë shfaqja e dramës “Gof”, me regjinë e Luljeta Çekut , si dhe loja e Agron Bibës në teatrin e këtij kompleksi.
Kësaj here u befasova edhe mâ për të mirë.
Festivali i flimit Shqip! N’Londër! Bukuri!
Ma herët, shumë pak kisha ndigju për organizatorët, “Arbëria”.
Edhe ma pak për yllin e vërtetë të këtij festivali, z. Shpëtim Alimeta
dhe ndihmësit e tij. Por, ata organizuen nji festival që në mënyrë të denj i prezentoi vlerat e reja të kinematografisë shqiptare.
Në hymje t’Riverside, mysafirët i mirëpriti nji shqiptar i veshun me tesha kombëtare.
Kështu që, me t’hyme, ndezeshin flakë nga gëzimi fytyrat e shqiptarëve.
“Arritëm edhe n’Riverside”, përshpëritnin disa shqiptarë gjatë koktejit modest t’organizuem nga “Arbëria” me rastin e hapjes solemne të këtij stinori.
Shpëtimi u ofronte mysafirëve ‘bukë, krypë e zemër’, po edhe pse kish fillu Ramazani dha Zoti e nuk munguen as birrat “Tirana”.

Për nji komunitet që asht aq i shkapërderdhun e i paorganizum, si asht komuniteti shqiptar, kjo ngjarje ishte ‘top’, nuk ka ku shkon ma mirë.
Në fjalën e rastit, Shpëtimi përshëndeti mysafirët, artdashësit dhe njerëzit e filmit dhe, ndër të tjera, tha:
“Festivali vjen si një fjalë e ngrohtë midis bashkësisë Shqipfolëse këtu në Londër, e cila po tregon shenja pjekurie dhe bashkëpunimi pozitiv si qytetarë të vërtetë të kryeqytetit shumëkulturor londinez. Ky organizim synon që të krijojë edhe fillesën e një tradite të përsëritshme në të mirë të shkëmbimit të përvojës, integrimit, dhe lidhjes së urave midis artistëve shqiptarë dhe atyre anglezë, por edhe midis organizatave shqiptare midis vetvetes dhe me vendorët.”
Festivali u hap me filmin e Vladimir Priftit “Dasma e Sakos” (1998), nji dramë me ngjarje nga fillimi i shekullit të kaluem. Ky film ishte çift me filmin fantastik të Artan Minarollit “Natë pa Hënë” (2004) (nji vajze e re, udhës për n’gyrbet me gjyshin e saj, bie n’dashni me nji të panjoftun…)
Festivali pastaj vazhdoi me filmat e Fatmir Koçit “Tirana - Viti Zero” (2001), nji film që kish kriju nji atmosferë shumë të bukur, karaktere të zhvillueme shumë mirë, por jo edhe skenarin. Kjo ish xehër në krahasim me tripin që e krijoi filmi i Isa Qosjes “Proka” (1985), ku për shumë veta nga publika ishte ‘too much’ dhe lëshuen sallën.
Motivi i emigracionit ishte motivi që e preokuponte kinemanë shqiptare. Emigrimi ishte edhe temë e filmit të Mevlan Shanajt, “Lulet e Zeza” (2003), film i cili bante fjalë për nji komunitet në zhdukje e sipër nga emigrimi. As ky film nuk kaloi aq mirë me publikun.
Filmi që ma së shumti u pëlqye nga mysafirët ishte filmi i Edmond Budinës “Letra në Erë” (2002), ku sidomos duhet me lavdue punën që ka ba Edmond Budina jo vetëm si regjisor, por edhe si aktor. Edmondi me mjeshtëri e kombinon realizmin e hidhun të Shqipnisë së ‘90tave, me nji ‘road movie’ element, ku i ati mbaron n’Itali tue e kërkue të birin.
Filmi i Budinës u përcjell me tre filma tjerë të shkurtë: filmin e Bujar Alimanit “Kolibja e Qenit” (2002), “Edeni i braktisur” i Eno Milkanit dhe filmi i Burbuqe Berishës “Kosova 9/11”.
Filmi “Kosova 9/11” i Burbuqes (edhe pse personalisht i kam problem këto temat e 9/11), sa herë që po e shof, po m’pëlqen secilën herë ma shumë e ma shumë.
Tuj menu qe s’ka me dhezë prapë naj tregim për 9/11, kur qe Ismet Sijarina me nji tjetër. Ky film ish ‘one to many’ sa i përket 9/11, por prapëseprapë shihej që Ismet Sjarina kish ba punë shumë të mirë me binjaket.
Po ashtu si pjesë e festivalit u mbajt edhe nji seminar për gjendjen e kinematografisë shqiptare, ku si befasi u shfaq filmi dokumetar i Vladimir Priftit “Butrinti”. Folën Arben Lami, drejtor i Qendrës Kinematografike, Vladimir Prifti, si dhe disa njerëz tjerë të filmit. Konkludim i tanë pjesëmarrësve ishte se kinematografia shqiptare ballafaqohet me nji krizë finanacash, por jo edhe krizë talenti. Iu banë disa vërejtje shtetit shqiptar dhe organizmave kompetetentë për me ba ma shumë n’aspektin e promovimit të filmit shqiptar si dhe bashkëpunimit mes brezit të vjetër dhe brezit të ri.
Si nji kronist ad hoc i këtij festivali, uroj që “Arbëria” dhe Shpëtimi të përsërisin këtë sukses në stinorët e ardhshëm.


P.S. Fernando Meirilles, që për lexuesit e gazetës JAVA pat dhanë intervistë eksluzive vitin e shkuem, sivjet e hapë “London Film Festival” me filmin e tij të ri ‘The Constant Gardener’.
Ma shumë për LFF në numrat e ardhshëm të “Javës”.



by Gazetajava.com

Why Kosova needs independence? - Veton Surroi

Author: Veton Surroi, member of the Kosovar delegation for status talks and the Chairman of ORA

Veton Surroi
1.

Independence of Kosova is not a matter of flag, anthem or emblem. It is not a matter of Battle of Kosovo or Illyrian-Dardanian continuity, either. Neither is a matter of isolation from the others. In the 21st century, the independence of Kosova is a matter of management, security and of prospect.

Let us begin with management. This is a territory that after so many conflicts, that culminated with the attempted genocide against the Albanian majority, has reached a stage of maturity that requires it to be managed by its inhabitants. This has been called and is called self-determination; but within the context here, let us name it simply in a business term, management. Of course, one can say that this can be corporative management; thus Kosova can be part of a bigger enterprise, of Serbia and Montenegro, for example, but the answer to this is simple. The big corporation, the socialist Yugoslavia has bankrupted and separate enterprises have derived from it. Some of them, e.g. Slovenia and Croatia, with extraordinary success, while some others, e.g. Bosnia and Herzegovina, still deficient. Serbia and Montenegro is a small corporation on the verge of bankruptcy, and as such not attractive to anyone, not even its constitutive enterprises.

But, there is one other successful corporation, the EU. However, a prerequisite for an enterprise to become a part of this corporation is to be healthy, on the one hand, and to have solved all legal- ownership-issues. Kosova, as a European territory, is interested in becoming a part of the EU, but in order to reach that goal, it has to define its “legal-ownership issues”, first. This simply means that the definition of Kosova’s status as an independent state should be perceived as a priority for the possibility of adherence into EU. So, Kosova is becoming independent though not to be isolated by other European nations and states, but in order to join the other European nations and states, including the Serb in the future.

2.

Why is it a matter of security?

In the 21st century, the experience of the 20th century was understood, and this is experience is that source of insecurity, both on the global and local level, are countries that have failed. Two examples are sufficient: former Yugoslavia, whose failure became a source of the biggest insecurity on the European continent after the World War II, and Afghanistan, which as a failed country had become a training heaven for international terrorism.

Vice versa, functional states represent the source of regional and global security. The only way how Kosovo can guarantee security for its citizens, and at the same be a guarantee for regional security, is through its own functional state. Kosovo in no way can be part of a Serbian state. This has been proven by all means, including even extreme violence, and it has been proven as a failed project, even to the extent that Serbia cannot still become a functional state, suffering the consequences of its own fascism, as a driving ideology for the for annexation of Kosovo in that time.

3.

Finally, it is a matter of prospect. In any segment of life, there is a need for fundamentals upon which the future is to be built.

In economy, for example, it has been proven that the can be no economic development without property being defined. Accordingly, in the overall development of Kosova, there can be forward steps unless the character of the state is defined. As long as there’s duality as far as the nature of state, there will be dual interpretation of its legal order, and duality on the fundamental issues, such as the assurance of the economic investments. We have seen this in Kosova during the six years with UNMIK, where the lack of defined power, and the resulting duality, have in fact brought enormous stagnation in the development of institutions, democracy and economy.. When it is unclear who is responsible in government, the whole chain of responsibility is lost, thus the nature of democracy and the power of the vote of sovereign, the citizen.

Therefore, Kosovo should become independent in order to build a democratic future of a responsible government and a future of economic development.

4.

I am aware that in Serbia, which in fact is the only country opposing Kosovo’s independence, there is a completely different approach, and that other entirely different argument are in play. I know that would bring about voices telling me: ”How would you protect Kosovo Serbs with these three principles of yours?” The answer is very simple: So far, all models that exclude the majority population taking full responsibilities have been used. The result for the Serbs was catastrophic; Milosevic made of them colonial administrators, and this put Kosova Serbs into a specific historical position to be regarded as a fifth colon in their country, new Kosova.

Let us try a model that prevailed in the united Europe, that of the majority population taking responsibility, in a democratic and functional state.

Eye for an eye, life for a life

By Chris Summers and Paulin Kola
BBC News

Two men have been sentenced for their part in murdering an Albanian man in London. The BBC News website looks at the ancient blood feuds culture which spawned it.

Albania is one of Europe's poorest countries - a million people have left seeking jobs since the communist regime collapsed in 1991.

The country is desperately trying to catch up with the rest of Europe and both the main political parties agree that the long-term goal is to get into the EU.

But criminality - be it blood feuds, drugs or human trafficking - remains a stain on Albania's reputation and one it is struggling to remove.

In many parts of the country, and in neighbouring Kosovo, the culture of blood feuding dates back to the 16th century and was enshrined in a series of rules enforced locally.

The best-known among them - the 16th century Kanun (or Canon) of Lek Dukagjin - re-emerged in the early 1990s after decades of suppression under the communists.


ALBANIA
Population of 3.2 million
Gross national income per capita: £1,000 ($1,740), compared with £16,304 ($28,350) in UK.
Ruled by hardline communist regime of Enver Hoxha after 1945. He died in 1985 but communist rule only ended in 1991
In 1997 law and order collapsed for three months in the wake of a series of failed pyramid investment schemes.
Albanians are divided into Tosks (who live in the south) and Ghegs (who live in the north, and neighbouring Kosovo)

Denis Ceka, whose body was discovered near London's Heathrow airport in September 2002, was a victim of such a feud.

His killers, Petrit Manahasa and Shpetim Selhaka, were recently jailed for 20 and 19 years respectively for his murder. Both have since appealed and the sentences are not final.

Tonin Gjuraj, a university lecturer in the city of Shkodra, one of the worst affected areas of the country, has researched the issue.

He told the BBC News website: "This is a disgrace. Acts of revenge justified on the basis of the Kanun are often nothing more than common criminal offences in an area where law enforcement remains weak.

"As such, they have nothing in common with the main tenets of the Kanun."

Albanian government officials play down the problem and say it has diminished significantly in recent years.

Two years ago the country's then prime minister Fatos Nano organised an initiative designed to stamp out blood feuds, which almost disappeared during the communist era but re-emerged in the early 1990s - especially in northern Albania and in neighbouring Kosovo.

Clarissa de Waal, a social anthropologist from Cambridge University, said blood feuds were one of a number of symptoms of Albania's economic conditions.

Dr de Waal, who has published a book called Albania Today: A Portrait of Post-Communist Turbulence, said: "Blood feuds is a phenomenon you get in areas where there are few jobs and only a subsistence economy. A lot of it is due to squabbling over land."

Out of proportion?

Dr Gjuraj is concerned about the phenomenon but also fears it may be being blown out of all proportion - by Albanian non-governmental organisations keen to attract funds from foreigners mystified at the existence of the ancient practice in Europe, and by international organisations eager to prolong their mandate in the country.

Dr de Waal agrees that some groups appear keen on exaggerating the problem but said: "The fact is that a lot of Albanians don't believe jail is a quid pro quo. A lot of people want to bring back the death penalty."

She claimed that in some cases killers have paid corrupt officials to secure freedom.

Dr de Waal said blood feuds were linked to a concept of "neighbourhood opinion" strong in Albanian communities.

She told the BBC News website: "These families often get involved in blood feuds because if they don't they will be perceived as cowards."

That ethic has spread among the Albanian diaspora with groups claiming victims in Italy, Germany, Britain and the United States.

The Tirana-based Albanian Foundation for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation of Disputes said there were 2,000 murders in the country between 1997 and 2000, half of which were said to have been linked to blood feuds.

Vendettas

It said 150 families had been forced to stay indoors for safety.

The foundation added that in many cases entire families had been forced into vendettas as a result of the involvement of second or third cousins.

This is a disgrace. Acts of revenge justified on the basis of the Kanun are often nothing more than common criminal offences in an area where law enforcement remains weak
Dr Tonin Gjuraj
Albanian government officials are keen to stress the country has moved on a lot since 1997, when a crisis caused by failed pyramid schemes led to a three-month state of anarchy.

They say the country is working hard to improve its economy, political structure and criminal justice system and they say foreign investment is on the increase.

It may be some time before Albania is considered ready for entry to the EU and blood feud cases, like that of Denis Ceka, may continue to blight the country's image.

'Kosovo: Get It Right, Now '
John Norris in Le Monde Diplomatique
12 October 2005
Le Monde Diplomatique

The soon-to-be-appointed UN special envoy who will negotiate over the status of Kosovo faces an almost impossible task: to satisfy all those with a stake in the region without denying minority rights, and to prevent the region from being frozen in stalemate for decades.

Soon the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, will appoint a special envoy to begin difficult negotiations over Kosovo’s final status. This post will probably go to a respected senior European diplomat, probably the former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, with as many as three deputies, including an American, a European and a Russian. But as the international community has learned from repeated rounds of high-stakes diplomacy in the Balkans over the past 15 years, some successful and some decidedly not, a lot more than good intentions goes into getting the talks right.
The stakes are high. If the new envoy does not get Kosovo right, it could become perpetually underdeveloped and prone to unrest, or stay frozen in a decades-long stalemate like Cyprus. Equally important (and despite the fact that Kosovo is unusual because of the 1999 Nato military intervention that paved the way for this current process), the international community’s handling of Kosovo will be read around the globe as having broader meaning for what it says about minority rights, self-determination and the way to deal with breakaway territories. So here is some unsolicited advice for the new special envoy.

If you don’t have real authority, your mission will fail. After a few rounds of shuttle diplomacy between Pristina, Belgrade, Moscow and points west, don’t be surprised if you hit an impasse. At this point, you will need to have the power to put new proposals on the table to get the talks moving. Leaders in this region have seen a string of high-level envoys come and go who did not have the standing to take strong action.

Obviously, you will need to respect the bottom lines that will be deal-breakers for the Contact Group, but if the Serbs, Albanians and Russians see you as little more than a letter carrier from Washington and London, it will not be long before they start dealing directly with these capitals and turning you into a mere figurehead. This is important, because this is one of the first occasions (since Lord Owen’s rocky involvement in the early phases of the Bosnian war) that a European has been given such pre-eminence in Balkans diplomacy. Unless you have real powers, many in the Balkans will assume that you are simply answering to your US deputy or more powerful handlers in the White House. It will only take a few times when you need to step out of the room to get instructions before others around the table begin to think they should be negotiating directly with the front office.

In a marked shift from its position in its first term, the Bush administration is now much more willing to take on the Kosovo issue, and feels that there is no realistic alternative to moving forward with resolving Kosovo’s status. The core team of career US diplomats dealing with the issue are seasoned Balkans hands and quite able. That said, it is far from clear how the Bush administration, which never seems to like being the junior partner in anything, will adjust to letting Europe take the lead on Kosovo. Washington has enough on its hands right now, with everything from Iraq to New Orleans crowding for attention, and it should be happy that Europe has taken greater ownership of all issues Balkan. Yet, there also continues to be an almost instinctive dislike within the White House for European leadership on matters of high diplomacy, and a fundamental distrust of Europe’s ability to stick to tough positions.

The key to dealing with the administration will be to get their full buy-in early, maintain good rapport with your US deputy and convey a sense of professionalism and forward movement that avoids grandstanding. You will also need to maintain a good relationship with the US military officials involved in planning discussions, because most people in the Balkans still see the US military as the most important muscle behind any agreement, even if its long-term presence in the region remains relatively token.

Dealing with Russia is both vital and uniquely frustrating. You will need to endure many long nights and much second-hand smoke before you get Moscow’s UN security council stamp of approval for any Kosovo deal, regardless of whether you have a Russian deputy or not. There are many Soviet-trained hardliners still in positions of real power in the Kremlin, and most still view Kosovo as yet another loss for Russia’s broad sphere of influence. But image remains important for the Russians. President Putin is eager to be seen as a heavyweight on the global stage, and he uses such appearances to bolster his sometimes shaky domestic credibility. Your meetings with the Russians should be well publicised and frequent. You would be wise to speak of the Russians as tough negotiators who care deeply about the minority rights of the Serbs, and you should offer Moscow iron-clad guarantees that the West will not accept the creation of a Greater Albania that merges Kosovo and Albania. Whatever new status awaits Kosovo, it is vital that this arrangement not trigger further rounds of irredentism and territorial claims; allowing Kosovo to merge with Albania would only destabilise Macedonia and other states in the region already wrestling with their own ethnic problems.

Russia has learned the hard way that being obstructionist in the Balkans is counterproductive, but it is important to remember that the Russians also fear that any precedent established in Kosovo will eventually be applied to Chechnya. Russia has a large and restive Muslim population in its southern republics, and would be wise to learn the lesson that Serbia failed to grasp in Kosovo: protecting minority rights is the surest means to head off insurrections before they begin.

The key to dealing with the Serbian government will be applying steady public pressure and using your position as a bully pulpit while dealing with Belgrade’s legitimate concerns. Kosovo remains a hot issue in Serbian politics, and few Serbian politicians have been honest to their constituents about the general situation on the ground in Kosovo over the past 15 years. Many Serbian politicians acknowledge behind closed doors that it would be easier for them if it looked like their arms were being twisted by the international community. The general sentiment is “Please impose this rather than make us look like the bad guys in public”. Yet, this effort cannot be totally heavy-handed; as one senior US official noted, it will be important to “not totally drive the Serbs against the wall. If we drive the Serbs into a corner they will not bend.” It is probably better to err on the side of toughness; some of the Serbian officials involved in the talks have been through many similar exercises during the past decade and will be anything but starstruck at your title or the importance of your mission.

Figuring out practical plans to respect minority Serbian rights in Kosovo is the best way to take the wind out of the sails of Serbian complaints. Kosovo is the site of important historic and religious sites for the Serbs, and access to and protection of religious sites will be a central concern. It might also be useful to locate some government ministries in the heavily Serbian city of Mitrovica, and establishing security arrangements that can be trusted to protect Serbs will be a central measure of your credibility. The issue of decentralising government powers in Kosovo will also loom large, but while decentralisation is fine, attempts to partition Kosovo are not. Lastly, the French “non” vote on the EU constitution will only make your job harder, and the loss of potential early EU membership for Serbia has left the international community with one less carrot to dangle before Belgrade.

Dealing with the Kosovo Albanian negotiating team will be a mess. Getting unity even within the team will be tricky business, and a senior diplomat in Pristina recently complained that the current provisional government of Kosovo spends most of its time “trying to appear to be doing something without actually doing anything”. The recent announcement that President Ibrahim Rugova is suffering from cancer will only intensify the jockeying among the Albanians for political position, and these party disputes have often veered into violence in the past. Making sure that former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters understand that violence is counterproductive and has no place in the political arena will be key to bringing some harmony to the Kosovar Albanian delegation.

While the Kosovar Albanians will likely get much of what they want out of talks, in that they are unlikely ever to be ruled directly by Belgrade again, do not expect them to go along happily with the process. You will need to be every bit as blunt with the Albanians as you are with the Serbs. Probably the best thing you can do for Kosovo and Kosovars is to develop a reasonable plan for the continued international civilian presence in Kosovo over time. Kosovo is still plagued by cronyism and corruption, with little experience in running government. By pushing the Kosovars to accept the role of a reasonably intrusive continued international civilian presence, particularly in areas such as the justice system, you can help avoid creating a Kosovo that is ripe for failure.

As the world has learned painfully in the Balkans, just because everyone agrees to a plan does not mean that it is necessarily a good plan. One need only think back to the creation of safe havens and the fiasco of Srebrenica to appreciate that fact. There will be times when all of the capitals with which you are dealing are so eager to reach a deal that they will sign almost anything. The devil is in the detail and if you do not resist the many half-baked sovereignty options with which you will be presented, Europe could be left with Kosovo as a problem for decades to come.

Even the EU itself has recognised that Kosovo will need to have such fundamentals as treaty-making powers and distinct borders if it is ever to be integrated into the EU and other European institutions years down the road, and this is likely its best hope looking forward.

Welcome to your new job.

KOSOVO: U.S. OFFICIAL SAYS STATUS TALKS WILL START IN NOV

U.S. OFFICIAL SAYS STATUS TALKS WILL START IN NOV
The United States under-secretary of state for political affairs, Nicholas Burns, has ended his Balkans tour, announcing that talks on the final status of the southern Serbian province, which has been under United Nations control since 1999, would start in November and warned both sides - ethnic Albanians and Serbs - to refrain from using violence as a means to influence the outcome of the talks.

Following meetings in Pristina with ethnic Albanian leaders, who demand independence for Kosovo, Burns on Friday said that that the citizens of Kosovo had the right to decide their future and that Washington will be “very active in these talks”.

He added that the solution would be the one that will “allow all people in Kosovo to live together in peace” and that “the people of Kosovo have to make the decision”. This phrase was seen by political analysts as disturbing news for Belgrade, which opposes independence and is instead offering ethnic Albanians a large autonomy.
Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo number 1.7 million, against some 100.000 Serbs remaining in the province. Over 200,000 Serbs have fled the province since 1999, when a NATO bombing campaign drove out Belgrade's troops, who had been persecuting the Albanians.

Referring violence late last year when some ethnic Albanian went on a rampage, in which 19 people were killed and hundreds of Serbian homes and churches burned or destroyed, Burns underlined that there can be no solution if “Kosovo Serbs have no right to live here. We have now found ourselves in a position that we are essentially the protectors of the Serbian community in Kosovo and we don’t want to see anything that would scare them and prompt them to leave”, Burns said. The solution, in his words, must be a part of compromise, “in which there would be no winners, nor losers”.

Ethnic Albanian leaders, from President Ibrahim Rugova to Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi, welcomed the announcement on the beginning of status talks, but insisted that a deadline for their end should also be fixed, to “prevent obstruction”.

Burns wound up his Balkan tour with talks in Belgrade with Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who insisted on the respect for the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which provides for Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo and a large autonomy for ethnic Albanians.

After the talks with Burns, Kostunica’s office said in a statement that the solution should be acceptable to both sides, based on the UN resolution. But the problem is that Pristina and Belgrade's positions were irreconcilable and ethnic Albanians have said they would settle for nothing short of independence and have threatened to resort to violence again to achieve their goal.

Kostunica said the problem “should be approached very carefully”, adding that the international community should bear in mind the “stability of the entire region” in seeking the solution. Belgrade has repeatedly warned that Kosovo independence would trigger similar demands by ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, northwest Greece and Montenegro, all of whihc have a a significantly sized ethnic Albanian minority.

Burns has said that his government would assist a special negotiator to be appointed by the United Nations, but would take no sides. Both proposals on the table, the independence and autonomy, will have equal consideration, he concluded.

US warns against violence as Kosovo talks loom

13 Oct 2005 17:07:10 GMT

Source: Reuters

PREVIOUS | NEXTUnited States Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns (L) shakes hands with Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova (R) at Rugova's residence in the Kosovo capital Pristina, October 13, 2005. Burns arrived with the United Nations poised to open negotiations in November or December on the future of Serbia's U.N.-run province, where the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority demands independence.
REUTERS/HAZIR REKA PREVIOUS | NEXTUnited States Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns (L) shakes hands with Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova (R) at Rugova's residence in the Kosovo capital Pristina, October 13, 2005. Burns arrived with the United Nations poised to open negotiations in November or December on the future of Serbia's U.N.-run province, where the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority demands independence.
REUTERS/HAZIR REKA PREVIOUS | NEXTUnited States Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns (L) holds a news conference with Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova (R) at Rugova's residence in the Kosovo capital Pristina, October 13, 2005. Burns arrived with the United Nations poised to open negotiations in November or December on the future of Serbia's U.N.-run province, where the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority demands independence.
REUTERS/HAZIR REKA Background CRISIS PROFILE: Can Kosovo put violence behind it?



Source: Reuters

PREVIOUS | NEXTUnited States Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns (L) shakes hands with Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova (R) at Rugova's residence in the Kosovo capital Pristina, October 13, 2005. Burns arrived with the United Nations poised to open negotiations in November or December on the future of Serbia's U.N.-run province, where the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority demands independence.
REUTERS/HAZIR REKA PREVIOUS | NEXTUnited States Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns (L) shakes hands with Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova (R) at Rugova's residence in the Kosovo capital Pristina, October 13, 2005. Burns arrived with the United Nations poised to open negotiations in November or December on the future of Serbia's U.N.-run province, where the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority demands independence.

Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns (L) holds a news conference with Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova (R) at Rugova's residence in the Kosovo capital Pristina, October 13, 2005. Burns arrived with the United Nations poised to open negotiations in November or December on the future of Serbia's U.N.-run province, where the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority demands independence.

United States To Focus on Balkan War Crime Fugitives, Kosovo

Washington -- The future of Kosovo, war crimes fugitives, Iran’s suspected nuclear ambitions and NATO’s role in Afghanistan will be the focus of an upcoming trip to Europe by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, a trip that includes stops in Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia.

The United States intends to make a major diplomatic push on these issues over the next few months, said Burns at a briefing October 7 at the State Department.

KOSOVO FINAL STATUS TALKS SHOULD BEGIN, BURNS SAYS

On Kosovo, he said the United States agrees with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that final status talks should begin. Burns said he expects Annan to appoint a special envoy soon to oversee the talks, which he hopes will start before the end of 2005.

Kosovo has been under United Nations administration since 1999, when a NATO-led force drove out Serbian forces persecuting the ethnic Albanian majority. A NATO-led peacekeeping mission (KFOR) with 18,000 soldiers currently provides security.

The st"

Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | U.N. Recommends That Kosovo Talks Go Ahead

U.N. Recommends That Kosovo Talks Go Ahead


Saturday October 8, 2005 12:16 AM

AP Photo XSI103

By NICK WADHAMS

Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended Friday that talks on Kosovo's future go ahead despite corruption and pervasive ethnic tension, a critical step toward resolving the fate of a province run by the United Nations since NATO's 1999 air war.

Annan's recommendation to the U.N. Security Council was delivered with a report that said enough progress had been made in creating the institutions to make a government work in Kosovo. Europe and the United States must not allow the tiny region to stagnate or fade from international attention, the report said.

``I think we did provide a political momentum and I think it will be very unwise to stop that political momentum,'' the report's author, Kai Eide of Norway, said in a phone interview from London.

The Security Council was likely to discuss Eide's report when it considers Kosovo on Oct. 24, and talks could start as early as next month, after Annan appoints a special representative to oversee the process.

Kosovo has been run by a U.N. mission - with a strong NATO peacekeeping presence - since mid-1999, when a NATO air war forced former">Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | U.N. Recommends That Kosovo Talks Go Ahead: "U.N. Recommends That Kosovo Talks Go Ahead


Saturday October 8, 2005 12:16 AM

AP Photo XSI103

By NICK WADHAMS

Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended Friday that talks on Kosovo's future go ahead despite corruption and pervasive ethnic tension, a critical step toward resolving the fate of a province run by the United Nations since NATO's 1999 air war.

Annan's recommendation to the U.N. Security Council was delivered with a report that said enough progress had been made in creating the institutions to make a government work in Kosovo. Europe and the United States must not allow the tiny region to stagnate or fade from international attention, the report said.

``I think we did provide a political momentum and I think it will be very unwise to stop that political momentum,'' the report's author, Kai Eide of Norway, said in a phone interview from London.

The Security Council was likely to discuss Eide's report when it considers Kosovo on Oct. 24, and talks could start as early as next month, after Annan appoints a special representative to oversee the process.

Kosovo has been run by a U.N. mission - with a strong NATO peacekeeping presence - since mid-1999, when a NATO air war forced former"

Kosovo set for 'breakaway' talks

Kosovo set for 'breakaway' talks Talks on whether Kosovo should remain part of Serbia or be given independence should start soon, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said.
He made the recommendation to the UN Security Council after a report on progress in the province, run by the UN since a war there ended in 1999.
Mr Annan's envoy Kai Eide drew up the report after a four-month mission.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian-dominated authorities seek independence but Serbia wants to keep the province.
The time has come to move to the next phase of the political process Kofi Annan UN General Secretary
"The question of autonomy and independence has been raised, and we have to talk to Belgrade and Pristina," Mr Annan told reporters in the Swiss capital, Bern.
"We will start soon."
Mr Annan said the talks should be launched despite several shortcomings in Kosovo's UN-set standards of democracy, identified in Mr Eide's report:
Economy: "Significant progress has been made" in creating economic structures. But the situation "remains bleak", with high unemployment and widespread poverty
Rule of law:"The Kosovo police and judiciary are fragile institutions," with police apparently unable to handle organised crime, corruption and interethnic crime
Multiethnic society: "The situation is grim" with cases of interethnic crimes and violence often going unreported.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica expressed his surprise at the latest developments.
In a statement released after talks with UN envoy to Kosovo Soren Jessen-Petersen, Mr Kostunica said that "the precondition for talks on Kosovo future is full implementation" of the UN-set standards.
For his part, Mr Jessen-Petersen welcomed Mr Annan's announcement, but stressed that Kosovo should implement the standards to build "a truly multiethnic society".
Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova on Thursday reiterated that the "only platform for the status talks is the independence".
In Washington, senior State Department official Nicholas Burns said that Kosovo's uncertain political status was " no longer sustainable."
Kosovo's future remains a highly contentious issue, the BBC's UN correspondent Susannah Price says.
The 15-member UN Security Council is due to vote on it later this month.
Shuttle diplomacy
"As indicated in the report, Mr Eide has concluded that while standards implemented in Kosovo has been uneven, the time has come to move to the next phase of the political process," Mr Annan said.
"I accept Mr Eide's conclusion," he added.
The talks are expected to take the form of shuttle diplomacy.
The task of mediating is expected to be assigned to the former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who helped broker a ceasefire between Nato and Serbia in 1999.
Belgrade has complained that Serbs in Kosovo are denied basic human rights such as safety and freedom of movement.
Nato air attacks drove Serb troops out of Kosovo in 1999 in a campaign to stop what the West said was persecution of the majority Albanians, some of whom had taken up arms against the Serb forces.
Ethnic Albanians make up 90% of Kosovo's estimated population of two million.
Of some 200,000 Serbs left in Kosovo, about half live in enclaves protected by Nato troops.

BBC NEWS
Published: 2005/10/07 21:28:48 GMT

The Albanian Film Season
from 5 to 9 October;
Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, London W6 9RL


Wednesday 5 October
6.45pm
Albanian Film Season Double Bill

Dasma e Sakos (15)Sako's Wedding
Directed by Vladimir Prifti Albania, 1998, 100m sub-titles
screening with Nate pa Hene
Under stone roofs of houses with walls like castles Sako’s wedding is about to come to a halt. One of the best Albanian film directors, metaphorically tells that dictatorships might be the same in essence, but they differ in shape. The story takes place at the beginning of the last century but for many Albanians of the end of the 20th century it does ring some bells.

Wednesday 5 October
8.50pm
Nate pa Hene (18)Moonless Night
Directed by Artan Minarolli Albania/France, 2004, 80m sub-titles
screening with Dasma e Sakos
Rudina and her grandfather leave their village to emigrate to the West. In the train full of would-be emigrants, Rudina meets Gjergj. On the way to the promised land Rudina discovers the truth about her grandfather’s past and the way in which Gjergj is also part of this. On the beach, under a moonless night, they are about to choose their future.

Thursday 6 October
7.00pm
Albanian Film Season Double Bill

Tirana - Viti Zero (18)Tirana - Year Zero
Directed by Fatmir Koci Albania/France/Belgium, 2001, 90m sub-titles
screening with Proka
Niku and Klara are very much in love. Both youngsters have different directions to pursue against a backdrop of highly emotional people living on the edge of despair. A crazy German tourist hires Niku to help him pursue his own made dream. A film celebrating the maverick spirit of filmmaking.

Thursday 6 October
8.50pm
Proka (U) Directed by Isa Qosja Kosove, 1985, 89m sub-titles
screening with Tirana - Viti Zero
Proka is different from others in his village. Working hard to overcome the drought he remains uninterested to the surrounding petty gossips. Being not like other villagers they seem him as being against the environment, the establishment and counter to their mentality. From here starts his existentialist affliction. Great picture with surprising authenticity.

Friday 7 October
7.00pm
Albanian Film Season Double Bill

Letra ne Ere (15)Letters in the Wind
Directed by Edmond Budina Albania/Italy, 2002, 90m sub-titles
screening with Kolibja e Qenit
It is a story of Niko (interpreted by Budina himself) who goes to Italy in search of his son. With a sincere mix of fantasy and realistic portrayal of everyday sagas, Budina manages to give both the comical and tragic elements of life on the other side of the Adriatic at the end of the 90s.

Friday 7 October8.30pm
Kolibja e Qenit (U)The Kennel
Directed by Bujar Alimani Albania/Greece, 2002, 14m sub-titles
screening with Letra ne Ere
Sometimes animals can remind us to be more human. This film is an unusual approach to the migration.
This double bill will be followed immediately by the double bill Edeni I braktisur/The Deserted Eden and Kosova 9/11 to form a quadruple bill.

Friday 7 October
8.45pm
Albanian Film Season Double Bill

Edeni I braktisur (U)The Deserted Eden
Directed by Eno Milkani Albania, 2002, 20m sub-titles
screening with Kosova 9/11
In this film you will see what is left behind in the beautiful south Albania after the mass scale emigration has taken place. The old faithful people who still remain are thirsty for life.

Friday 7 October
9.05pm
Kosova 9/11 (U) Directed by Burbuge Berisha Kosove, 2003, 13m sub-titles
This film tells with a local wit what happened in rural Kosova on 9/11 when America was under attack and the news gets distorted.

This double bill will be preceded immediately by the double bill Letra ne Ere/Letters in the Wind and Kolibja e Qenit/The Kennel to form a quadruple bill.

Saturday 8 October
6.55pm
Albanian Film Season Double Bill
Lule te Zeza (18)Black Flowers
Directed by Mevlan Shanai Albania, 2003, 105m sub-titles
screening with Vallezim me Henen
Liliana, a free spirited woman, is abandoned by her husband and so is her newly wed daughter Ana. As the village becomes emptier, foreign religion missionaries keep arriving. After her father and husband flee, Ana disappears. Liliana is left behind with the teacher, whom her husband always thought of as being Ana’s father.

Saturday 8 October
8.55pm
Vallezim me Henen (U)Dance with the Moon
Directed by Ismet Sijarina Kosove, 2002, 14m sub-titles
screening with: Lule te Zeza (18)Black Flowers
Nita and Mrika are two twins in a suburb of Prishtina. Like every child they too have their dreams. For Nita everything changes after the dramatic events in New York on 9/11.

Festival celebrates mobile phone movies

Festival celebrates mobile phone movies
By Rory Mulholland in Paris

Europe's first film festival for movies shot with mobile telephones opens this weekend in Paris.

With dozens of films to be screened, ranging from 30-second shorts to a full-length feature made in Rome, the Pocket Film Festival seeks both to showcase an emerging art form and to ask what effect it might have on mainstream cinema.

"There's already great creativity in mobile phone film-making," said festival director Laurence Herszberg.

"I don't think we'll ever see Scorcese making films on phones, it's a new form and it will attract its own creators."

The festival comes as mobile network operators in many countries are thrusting third-generation (3G) phones equipped with video cameras and internet capability on their customers in the hope of recouping some of the huge investments they made in the sector.

While mobile phone users are long familiar with downloading ringtones, games, and graphics, they can now in some countries view "mobisodes," clips that play on a mobile phone's screen.

Whatever tool you use gives you creativity, you have to overcome its limitations
Wladimir Anselmename

In the US and UK, for example, minute-long episodes drawn from Fox TV's 24 television series, were available during the show's last season.

There have been prizes for movies made on or for mobile phones at events such as the Sundance Festival in the United States.

However, the three-day event which starts on Friday at the Forum des Images film centre in Paris is the first in Europe dedicated to films made on phones, said Ms Herszberg.

A film festival in Taiwan for Asian directors of phone films began in late September.

Several months ago the Forum handed out 100 3G phones to film-makers, writers, musicians, and other creative types and told them to go off and experiment.

They came back with films that spanned genres from film noir parody to personal diaries to a 90-minute feature entitled Jours où Je N'existe Pas (Days When I Don't Exist).

Fourteen of these films are in the running for prizes of cash and mobile phones, to be handed out Sunday at the close of the festival.

The festival is jointly sponsored by Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker, and the French mobile operator SFR.

They and other films will be shown on regular cinema screens in the Forum over the weekend, but can also be seen on mobile phone screens in installations in the centre's lobby.

Films being shown on these phone screens also include short films from the Lumière brothers, the French inventors whose 1895 film Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory is considered the first motion picture.

The festival director explained that the constraints of making movies on a mobile phone were in some ways similar to producing film on the primitive "cinematographe" camera invented by the Lumières.

She rejected suggestions that mobile phone films were merely a gimmick, pointing out that digital movie cameras were at first scorned by serious film-makers but have now been widely accepted.

Wladimir Anselme, one of the film-makers being showcased at the festival, agreed that the reduced capability of the mobile phone drove him to be more creative.

"Whatever tool you use gives you creativity, you have to overcome its limitations," said Anselme, who is also a musician and cabaret artist.

He made several films with his 3G phone, two of which were brief epsiodes in a film noir series and will be shown at the festival. He describes them as a witty parody mix of Martin Scorcese's Taxi Driver and early Jean-Luc Godard gangster movies.

Festival-goers keen to break into this new art form will be able to make their own mini-films in a special studio and editing facility set up in the Forum, where actors and technicians will be on hand to help.

And, this being France, the festival will also host several weighty round-table debates on subjects such as the meaning of the new art and its sociological implications.
Story from BBC NEWS:

Solana urges EU to consider police role in Kosovo

05 Oct 2005 14:01:10 GMT

Source: Reuters

Diplomats expect internationally backed talks on the status of the province -- including whether it should gain independence from Belgrade -- to start soon. A U.N. special envoy handed his report on the issue to U.N. chief Kofi Annan on Tuesday. By Mark John BRUSSELS, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The European Union should consider taking over law enforcement in Kosovo from the United Nations as part of a more active engagement in the Balkans, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Wednesday. Solana told a European Parliament hearing in Brussels that the EU had taken over security duties from NATO in Bosnia last year and said "something very similar will have to happen eventually with our relationship with Kosovo". Asked by EU deputies if he saw EU troops replacing the 17,000-strong NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force in the U.N.-administered Serbian province, he said: "KFOR should continue ... But a different story may be the police." He said the U.N. mission that handles police work in Kosovo would not stay there indefinitely and urged EU states to begin assessing whether the bloc could take on those tasks. The United Nations has run the majority-Albanian province since 1999, when NATO bombing drove out Serb forces accused of killing or expelling thousands of Albanian civilians in a two-year war against guerrillas. Speaking one day after the EU opened accession talks with Croatia, Solana said the 25-member bloc could not expect to be taken seriously as a global security player unless it took a full part in keeping the Balkans stable. "We need to create the mood and spirit that this problem is our problem," he told European deputies in a four-hour hearing on EU foreign policy also attended by EU External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. "If we can't give a constructive response, we will be in a difficult situation as far as showing we can do it elsewhere." As well as opening accession talks with Croatia, EU foreign ministers earlier this week put Serbia-Montenegro on the first rung of the long ladder to membership by starting talks on a "stabilisation and association agreement (SAA)". Some have asked why the EU began accession talks with Zagreb before Croatia had delivered fugitive ex-general Ante Gotovina, indicted for crimes against humanity during the 1992-95 Bosnia war, to the Hague international tribunal. Solana said the EU had received the go-ahead from the tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, and said the EU must show itself favourable to the membership hopes of the Balkan states. "We have to keep open the EU perspective and repeat it and repeat it when we visit these countries," he said, warning that public frustration could otherwise grow. "And you know how frustration shows itself sometimes in these countries," he said, indicating the potential for unrest.

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Srebrenica massacre list compiled

Srebrenica massacre list compiled

The Bosnian Serb government has drawn up a list of 19,473 Serb soldiers who operated in the region of Srebrenica at the time of the massacre there in 1995.
The secret list, compiled since 2003, includes almost 900 people still thought to be working for the Bosnian Serb government, army or police.
It will be forwarded to the state prosecutor's office for review.
More than 7,000 Muslim men and boys died when Bosnian Serb troops overran the UN-protected enclave in 1995.
The disclosure is part of an ongoing process instigated by the international community to force the Bosnian Serb government to acknowledge and account for the war crimes committed at Srebrenica, the BBC's Matt Prodger says.
Prosecution aid
Not every single person on it was directly involved in the massacre, our correspondent says.
The list also steers clear of apportioning responsibility onto people involved in the massacre.
But it does include people previously identified as giving orders for the killings and the actual executioners.
Authorities have pledged to investigate the roles of the 892 people who are still understood to be holding official positions in the autonomous Bosnian Serb republic.
The list is also supposed to provide Bosnian prosecutors with a fuller picture of how the crimes were perpetrated.
The head of the Bosnian Serb army at the time, Ratko Mladic, and his civilian counterpart, Radovan Karadzic, have been charged with genocide over Srebrenica.
But they remain fugitives thought to be hiding in Bosnia or neighbouring Serbia and Montenegro.
The massacre in eastern Bosnia is considered the worst single atrocity in Europe since World War II.

Story from BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/4310310.stm

Published: 2005/10/05 00:23:00 GMT

The Albanian Film Week in London

The Albanian Film Season
from 5 to 9 October;
Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, London W6 9RL


Wednesday 5 October
6.45pm
Albanian Film Season Double Bill

Dasma e Sakos (15)Sako's Wedding
Directed by Vladimir Prifti Albania, 1998, 100m sub-titles
screening with Nate pa Hene
Under stone roofs of houses with walls like castles Sako’s wedding is about to come to a halt. One of the best Albanian film directors, metaphorically tells that dictatorships might be the same in essence, but they differ in shape. The story takes place at the beginning of the last century but for many Albanians of the end of the 20th century it does ring some bells.

Wednesday 5 October
8.50pm
Nate pa Hene (18)Moonless Night
Directed by Artan Minarolli Albania/France, 2004, 80m sub-titles
screening with Dasma e Sakos
Rudina and her grandfather leave their village to emigrate to the West. In the train full of would-be emigrants, Rudina meets Gjergj. On the way to the promised land Rudina discovers the truth about her grandfather’s past and the way in which Gjergj is also part of this. On the beach, under a moonless night, they are about to choose their future.

Thursday 6 October
7.00pm
Albanian Film Season Double Bill

Tirana - Viti Zero (18)Tirana - Year Zero
Directed by Fatmir Koci Albania/France/Belgium, 2001, 90m sub-titles
screening with Proka
Niku and Klara are very much in love. Both youngsters have different directions to pursue against a backdrop of highly emotional people living on the edge of despair. A crazy German tourist hires Niku to help him pursue his own made dream. A film celebrating the maverick spirit of filmmaking.

Thursday 6 October
8.50pm
Proka (U) Directed by Isa Qosja Kosove, 1985, 89m sub-titles
screening with Tirana - Viti Zero
Proka is different from others in his village. Working hard to overcome the drought he remains uninterested to the surrounding petty gossips. Being not like other villagers they seem him as being against the environment, the establishment and counter to their mentality. From here starts his existentialist affliction. Great picture with surprising authenticity.

Friday 7 October
7.00pm
Albanian Film Season Double Bill

Letra ne Ere (15)Letters in the Wind
Directed by Edmond Budina Albania/Italy, 2002, 90m sub-titles
screening with Kolibja e Qenit
It is a story of Niko (interpreted by Budina himself) who goes to Italy in search of his son. With a sincere mix of fantasy and realistic portrayal of everyday sagas, Budina manages to give both the comical and tragic elements of life on the other side of the Adriatic at the end of the 90s.

Friday 7 October8.30pm
Kolibja e Qenit (U)The Kennel
Directed by Bujar Alimani Albania/Greece, 2002, 14m sub-titles
screening with Letra ne Ere
Sometimes animals can remind us to be more human. This film is an unusual approach to the migration.
This double bill will be followed immediately by the double bill Edeni I braktisur/The Deserted Eden and Kosova 9/11 to form a quadruple bill.

Friday 7 October
8.45pm
Albanian Film Season Double Bill

Edeni I braktisur (U)The Deserted Eden
Directed by Eno Milkani Albania, 2002, 20m sub-titles
screening with Kosova 9/11
In this film you will see what is left behind in the beautiful south Albania after the mass scale emigration has taken place. The old faithful people who still remain are thirsty for life.

Friday 7 October
9.05pm
Kosova 9/11 (U) Directed by Burbuge Berisha Kosove, 2003, 13m sub-titles
This film tells with a local wit what happened in rural Kosova on 9/11 when America was under attack and the news gets distorted.

This double bill will be preceded immediately by the double bill Letra ne Ere/Letters in the Wind and Kolibja e Qenit/The Kennel to form a quadruple bill.

Saturday 8 October
6.55pm
Albanian Film Season Double Bill
Lule te Zeza (18)Black Flowers
Directed by Mevlan Shanai Albania, 2003, 105m sub-titles
screening with Vallezim me Henen
Liliana, a free spirited woman, is abandoned by her husband and so is her newly wed daughter Ana. As the village becomes emptier, foreign religion missionaries keep arriving. After her father and husband flee, Ana disappears. Liliana is left behind with the teacher, whom her husband always thought of as being Ana’s father.

Saturday 8 October
8.55pm
Vallezim me Henen (U)Dance with the Moon
Directed by Ismet Sijarina Kosove, 2002, 14m sub-titles
screening with: Lule te Zeza (18)Black Flowers
Nita and Mrika are two twins in a suburb of Prishtina. Like every child they too have their dreams. For Nita everything changes after the dramatic events in New York on 9/11.

Here we go

Another day in paradise....