FFC Program Director Bernd Buder served on the jury of the DEA Film Festival in Albania last week. Here are his impressions from the festival:
“The DEA Film Festival took place in Tirana for the 13th time this year. Its motto was ‘Open Air, Open Minds’. The films in the international feature competition explored social dialogue in different ways – or at least the attempt to achieve it. This ranged from the Kyrgyz film MOZAIK (directed by Erke Dzhumakmatova and Emil Atagekdiev), which deals with domestic violence and society’s tendency to look away, to JETLAG IN SUMMER (China/Hong Kong/USA, directed by Yuan Kunao), a self-ironic portrait of a group of filmmakers stranded in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme also included Nikolai Geffeke’s DEBATE, a fictional Russian-language televised election debate, and the Spanish fantasy film SINGULAR (directed by Alberto Gastesi), which explores in a multilayered way the idea of bringing deceased family members ‘back to life’ through artificial intelligence.
Seven films ranging from arthouse concepts to more commercial cinema were accompanied by short film and student film programmes. At the same time, there was a real-life lesson in disagreement taking place outside the cinemas: every day, loud Flamingo protests were held against a controversial investment project by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of Donald Trump, in a protected natural area. Demonstrators accused the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama of cronyism and corruption.
The DEA Film Festival was founded by filmmaker and journalist Edmond Topi, who relocated the festival from the coastal city of Sarandë to the Albanian capital three years ago. The screenings were thoughtfully introduced by producer and filmmaker Genc Permeti. I had the honour of serving on the jury alongside producer Elly Senger-Weiss and screenwriter Ariane Krasniqi.”
More information about the festival can be found at: DEA Film Festival.