03-07-2010

FNE at KVIFF 2010 East of the West: The Albanian

By Pavlina Jeleva

    Johannes Naber, one of the scriptwriters of Philipp Stölzl's North Face (2008) and director of several documentaries and TV shorts, makes his feature directing debut with The Albanian, the story of an illegal immigrant living in Germany. Naber, who studied philosophy and philology in Berlin and documentary directing in Ludwigsburg, worked in TV productions as gaffer and developed a serious interest in illegal immigration in Germany.

    Naber recalls the first time he went to Albania with a "minibus and a video camera" was in 2001, when he started to develop a fictional story "based on what might be the research for a documentary." He chose Albania because of "its European location and the need to change the prejudices about a country with special history." Naber was convinced that "Albania needs a chance in Europe, and therefore we need to overcome a heap of clichés!"

    The center of the €1.2 million German-Albanian co-production became young Arden who wants to marry his beloved Etleva, but does not have the money for the old traditions expected of him. Dreaming of earning it before his girlfriend gives birth to their child he joins the nearly one million illegal immigrants in Germany.

    The project found important supporters. Boris Schönfelder from "Neue Schönhauser Filmproduktion" contributed €585,000, giving a 61.78 % participation to SWR (www.swr.de) / Arte (www.arte.tv). Another €170,000 (17.94 %) came fromMedienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (www.medienboard.de) and the €161.30 (17,03%) came from theFederal Film Fund (www.ffa.de). The Albanian co-producer Dritan Huqi from On Film Production brought €250,000support from theAlbanian National Center of Cinematography(www.nationalfilmcenter.gov.al).

    The main shooting took place between September 1 and December 20, 2009, in Berlin, Tirana and the mountainous village Bayram Curri, with additional seasonal shots in Albania.

    Naber, for whom the discovery of the main actor Nik Xhelilaj (Alive, Artan Minarolli, 2009) was a "lucky chance," explained that "no scene without Nik exists in the film," adding, "assisted by the script, the actor defined the character himself".

    The world premiere took place on June 24, 2010 during the Moscow IFF. The Albanian received two "Silver George" awards: one for Johannes Naber (special prize of the jury) and one for Nik Xhelilaj (best actor). The new recognition of Albanian talent comes after Arta Dobroshi‘s 2008 international success in the Dardens' brothers Lorna's Silence in Cannes.

    The Albanian will be distributed byKinowelt GmbH. (www.kinowelt.de)

    Script: Johannes Naber, Andeta Spahivogli, Christoph Silber, Alexander Steimle

    Director: Johannes Naber

    Director of Photography: Sten Mende

    Art Director: Ina Timmerberg

    Costumes: Juliane Maier

    Music: Oli Biehler

    Editing: Ben von Grafenstein

    Producers: Boris Schönfelder, Dritan Huqi

    Cast

    Arben: Nik Xhelilaj

    Etleva: Xhejlane Terbunja

    Slatko: Ivan Shvedoff

    Ilir: Amos Zaharia

    Damir: Stipe Erçeg

    Arben‘s father: Çun Lajçi

    Arben‘s uncle: Luan Jaha

    Arben‘s mother: Fatime Lajçi

    Arben‘s gradfather: Vasillaq Godo

    Etleva‘s mother: Yllka Mujo

    Etleva‘s father: Guljem Radoja

    Sali: Bruno Shllaku

    Florenç: Julian Deda

    Nicola: Eva Löbau

    Pharmacist: André M. Hennicke

    Driver: Tomek Nowicki

    Asian girl: Young-Shin Kim

    Edon: Hazir Haziri

    Production contact

    Neue Schönhauser Filmproduktion GmbH

    Producer: Boris Schoenfelder

    Neue Schönhauser Str. 19,

    10718 Berlin

    Germany

    Tel: + 49 (0)30 - 34391021

    Fax: + 49 (0)30 - 52135649

    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    On Film Production

    Co-Producer: Dritan Huqi

    Sh.p.k.,Rruga e Sami Frasheri

    Pall Agimi, shk 19, ap 336

    Tirana

    Albania

    Tel: + 355 42 223 830

    Fax: + 355 69 20 56 175

    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.