The well-known Albanian director, Kristaq Dhamo, was also present at the premiere of the film "Inane" (Summer without return) by Besnik Bisha. As one of the names that gave the portrait to what was our cinema, he had come to see the work of his former student. In a short conversation with journalists, Dhamo said that due to the time when he was making films, due to the pressure exerted by the communist political system, the films conveyed with the language of images what perhaps the spoken language could not say.
I have taught you students to be themselves, he said, knowing that only the truth would save them. As for the approach to the films shot during the communist regime, Kristaq Dhamo, who is the director of "Tana", "Fortuna", "Detyra e posçme", "Vitet e first", "Brazdat", "Mangjese lute", etc. says that films should be criticized, but history should be respected. "Art is art, in every era. Good or bad, he is a sign of history. History must be respected, criticized but must be respected. Banning movies seems to me an idiotic thing, because you will put a cross on a story", emphasizes Dhamo.
-What are the first impressions of Besnik Bisha's film?
K. Dhamo: I know him from the first movie, "The Signal of Love" to this movie. I like that he has the courage to change himself and this change is seen throughout the films. And that's what I thought, always have the courage to change. Whoever has the courage to change himself will walk, and this one has walked. It is one of the best films he has made in recent years.
- So, do we have hope in today's cinema, because we believed that only the cinema of the past has authors, has names?
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K. Dhamo: No one has said this. On the contrary, all of us old people have had great faith in young people. And it is these young people who have given courage to other young people. Today we have very talented. Today we have many young people, but unfortunately, they need to be helped more.
- Professor, what about when today's young people demand that old movies should be shown with a note, how to avoid the ideology of the time?
K. Dhamo: These are said rather by those who want to make an unfair policy. Art is art, in any era. Good or bad, he is a sign of history. History must be respected, criticized, but must be respected. Banning movies seems to me an idiotic thing, because you will cross a story. But history cannot be crossed. You can criticize it, history must be known, because when we know it well, it takes us forward. But film is one of history's best vehicles. Today, both sociologists and historians are returning to the film, to see how he thought, how people were, how he was dressed, how he ate and how he drank with the good and the bad. Let's look at the documentaries that criticize them the most. I removed the text, because it is known that it first served the propaganda of the time, but the photo is real, it does not lie; how he lived with the good, the bad and the suffering. It is part of history. Even as part of history, it should be treated as history, with the good and the bad. But not to cross him.
– Beyond the ideology that the films had, as you say, to the texts. However, even in the texts, the authors were able to convey messages that have the will of the authors?
K. Dhamo: Yes, there are many films, of course there were limitations, but our directors found the best way, our best screenwriters, so they managed to express the most progressive thought that was allowed to be said for that time. Even, rather, they said this opinion through the negative character, the criticisms that come out were indirectly for that regime. Today, of course, there are much better opportunities, we just need to help more, than with so little money given by the state, even with the lack of sponsorships, of those who have the opportunity to do it. Making two films a year is a bit much.
- What our films lack is distribution. Distribution to go to the public throughout the country, since we don't have cinemas, or do you see it differently?
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K. Dhamo: It is zero. It's also strange, because they don't understand. Maybe in the meantime, young filmmakers, my colleagues, should work harder to force the government to do it. For example, I talk to many young people who have forgotten about the cinema. Seeing this movie at home and seeing it in the cinema are two different things. The cinema gives other emotions, at home on TV, the same thing does not happen. You will be interrupted at home, by some things. In the cinema, no. This is not that it does not give the cinema income, but it does not teach the new generation to learn to value what should be valued. The film belongs in the cinema. Television plays a very big role, but Albania is the only country where we don't have a cinema. This is a shame. It is also the only country in the world that we boast of making one film a year. This is also a shame.
– What advice did you give your student once, a piece of advice that you may have found on the screen tonight?
K. Dhamo: I didn't give advice, we talked. We exchanged thoughts.
– What has been your faith in art? What was cinema for you?
K. Dhamo: At that time, we loved and appreciated the cinema a lot, because the people loved it too. We tried to be ourselves. Who is himself, he will become something, otherwise you will turn into a simple professional, craftsman as the people say. It is also a pleasure that many young people have walked.
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- Has this made the film "Tana" last longer? Are these elements that you remember even today, the truth?
K. Dhamo: Yes, I hadn't seen him in 30 or 40 years. Two months ago I got the chance. It reminded me of that time, it reminded me in many ways, because when we did it there was absolutely nothing. Only I knew something, but we did something together. It also seems to me that with the few opportunities we had, we did something together/Gazeta Albanian
