Thanks to the collaboration with Harabel Platform, the well-known festival, DokuFest, selected a few films from the program (2020), to present to the public on the evening of August 4th, 2020, in the premises of “Reja”, in Tirana. DokuFest is a film festival which takes place in the city of Prizren, but unlike previous years, this year – for objective reasons – it was broadcasted through the “online” platform. (https://online.dokufest.com/). And just like the last two years, even this third year DokuFest chose to develop the prologue of its activity in Tirana.
The selected films belonged to the short film category; they came from authors of different nationalities; elaborated on diverse topics, under a contemporary spirit. Respectively the titles: “3 Logical exists”, Mahdi Fleifel, (Denmark, United Kingdom, Lebanon, 2020); “Black sun” / Ardi Çiltepe (Turkey, Germany, 2019); “The Salon” Zgjim Terziqi, (Kosovo, 2019); “Sun dog”, Dorian Jespers, (Belgium, 2020).
–“3 logical exits” is in itself a sociological meditation on the various “(paths) exits” chosen by Palestinian youth to cope with life in the refugee camps. The director himself is witnessing the moments when thousands of Palestinians take to the streets to oppose the repressive measures of the Lebanese government. His documentary is an attempt to come to the aid of these young people, whose survival in a dead-end situation is extremely difficult; also, what is reflected is important for shared memory.
– “Diell i Zi“ (“Black sun ”); A storm approaches during a sudden trip to a remote island during a funeral. While the deceased is buried in a hurry, a man escapes towards Aegean Turkey: a dive into the sea, a dream in a city hotel, a light sleep in a hammam, and a visit to the coffin maker. Upon arrival home, he eats what is left as the wailing begins. And for the closing, the burial is eclipsed by an ultimate desire.
– Salloni” (“The Salon”); An unpleasant event happened the day before. A day later this event is brought to life through the words of the women present in the hairdressing salon where, ironically, a young bride is being adorned. What is the event: a woman has killed her husband, while the future bride at the hairdresser is in a hurry to get married. With an extreme simplicity and in an extremely limited time, the film raises many questions about sensitive but often invisible social issues.
– “Qeni i diellit” ( “Sun dog”), comes with a completely unique style. Fedor is a young locksmith in Murmansk, a city frozen in the darkness of the Russian Arctic. He wanders from one client to another through alleys led by a fantasy that limits him from the city and its inhabitants. Dreams take him away from reality, opening the doors of a phantasmagorical universe: a second sun rises over the horizon of the Russian Arctic.
Dokufest, as always, brings a breath of fresh air to Tirana in terms of cinematic quality and what it selects for the viewers, which are best presented in the “summer venues” (“Reja”).
