Albanian Cinema through the Fall of Communism : : Silver Screens and Red Flags / / Bruce Williams.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Amsterdam University Press Complete eBook-Package 2023
• VerfasserIn: Williams, Bruce,
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam : : Amsterdam University Press, , [2023]; ©2023
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Language: English
• Series: Eastern European screen cultures ; 6
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (246 p.)

Albanian cinema truly represents a terra incognita for most of the world. Decidedly Europe’s most isolated country during the Cold War era, communist Albania had already been cut off from the West for centuries as a one of the western-most outposts of the Ottoman empire. Nonetheless, and unknown to...

Table of Contents

• Frontmatter
• Table of Contents
• Preface. A Personal Journey towards and through Albania and Its Cinema
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Albania—The Context for a Little-Known Cinema
• Some words on the Balkans at large and at small
• Albania in a postcolonial context
• Additional words on the complete isolation of Albania
• The arts in Albania
• Albanian cinema and the project of this book
• Films chosen for discussion and analysis
• Structure of the book
• I. The Roots of Cinema in Albania
• The Ottoman Period, Independence, and the Fascist Occupation
• A sequel as a prequel
• The Manaki brothers
• Early filming in Albania
• Mihallaq Mone
• II. The Birth and Development of a Socialist Cinema
• Albania and the Soviet Union
• Albania and the Soviet Union
• Early Albanian newsreels and documentaries
• The training of young film professionals in Moscow and linguistic and continued cultural ties between Albania and the Soviet Union
• Sergei Yutkevich’s Luftëtari i madh i Shqipërisë Skënderbeu/ Великий воин Албании Скандербег/The Great Warrior Skanderbeg: A Soviet-Albanian coproduction
• Another level of documentary: Endri Keko
• Innovation silenced: Viktor Stratobërdha
• Innovation silenced: Viktor Stratobërdha
• Kinostudio’s first feature film: Kristaq Dhamo’s Tana
• Kristaq Dhamo: A coproduction with the Soviet Union
• III. The Flourishing of Kinostudio
• Albania’s Rapprochement with China and Albanian films during the Cultural Revolution
• Enver Hoxha on the arts in a socialist society
• Enver Hoxha on the arts in a socialist society
• Hysen Hasani’s DEBATIK: Children and vigilance
• Feature films of the early to 1960s through 1976
• Ngadhnjim mbi vdekjen/Victory over Death (1967): Heroines of the partisan movement
• Dhimitër Anagnosti’s Duel i heshtur/Silent Duel (1967): A Cold War thriller
• Viktor Gjika’s Clear Horizons/Horizonte të hapura: A hero of the working class
• Viktor Gjika’s Rrugë të bardha/White Roads: The New Man reexplored
• Fehmi Hoshafi and Muhharem Fejzo’s Kapedani/The Captain (1972): In communist Albania, women had the last laugh
• Imagining Albania’s landscape, both bucolic and harsh
• Dhimiter Anagnosti’s Lulëkuqet mbi mure/Red Poppies on the Wall: Totalitarianism defied
• IV. A Cinema in Isolation
• Historical context of the years of isolation
• Thematic diversity of Albanian cinema in the period of isolation
• Xhanfise Keko’s children’s films
• Music and national identity
• Piro Milkani and Kujtim Çashku’s Ballë për ballë/Face to Face: Nostalgia for Soviet friendship The ensuing discussion of Piro
• Kujtim Çashku’s Dora e ngrohtë/The Warm Hand: A wayward youth redeemed
• V. Kinostudio in the Post-Hoxha Era
• Ramiz Alia’s Albania
• Late Kinostudio productions
• Adaptations of Kadare
• A stance against corruption
• Esat Musliu’s Rrethi i kujtesës/The Circle of Memory (1987): Posttraumatic stress and memory loss
• Eduard Makri’s Shpella e piratëve/The Pirate Cave (1990): Childhood and adventure
• Some Words in Conclusion
• Towards an Albanian Cinema of Postcommunism
• Esat Musliu’s Vitet e pritjes/Years of Waiting (1990): Emigration and women
• Towards the future
• Bibliography
• Filmography
• Index