| Karlovy Vary East of the West: Alive! |
| 02 July 2009 | By Pavlina Jeleva |
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One of the important directors and screenwriters of the Albanian cinema, Artan Minarolli devoted nearly five years of his life to the raising of the 950,000 Euro budget for Alive.
Already known for his The Moonless Night (best film at Rotterdam), Rome Med FF New Jersey Trenton FF) Minarolli started the script development of Alive in 2004 with the help of the Rotterdam HBF. The next year he won the Belgrade B2B prize, followed by the prestigious Montpellier Mediterranean Development Grant. In 2006 Alive was selected by Sarajevo CineLink. Soon after Minarolli entered in co-production with the Paris based Agat Films (www.agatfilms.com) and the Vienna based WildartFilm (www.wildartfilm.com). With the help of the Albanian film fund and the national TV, and the accumulation of multiple national supports, by producers Ebba Sinzinger and Marie Balducho, he succeeded in building a tripartite co-production between Albania, Austria. and France. The whole summer shooting in Albania (June 9 to July 28, 2008) was overseen by Minarolli's production company Art Film. Since it was founded in 1997, it organized a European Film Festival in Tirana and produced, in addition to The Moonless Night, several shorts and documentaries. "The most difficult part of the shooting took place in the distant mountainous village Lura. We had to stay there 12 days. The nearest fuel station was at a three hour distance, and because of the bad road we damaged 20 tires. Half of the crew lived in stone houses, belonging to the villagers," Minarolli recounted. At the same time he recognized than working with people from different cultures (13 nationalities in the crew) was very exiting and that his French DoP Jacques Bouquin, with whom he collaborated for the second time, intensively helped the production The story of the blood feud hanging over the head of the young student Koli will have its world premiere in the East of the West competition during the Karlovy Vary IFF. Showing the dangerous weight of the so called "old code of honour" in contemporary Albania. Minarolli takes side against any obsessive vengeance. The main actor Kreshnik Xhelilaj, freshly graduated from the national Academy, was chosen for his authentic mountain villager looks. The main actress Driada Matoshi was engaged from Kossovo in order to bring a foreign quality to the character of the female assassin. . Art Film Rr. Durresit, Pa. 11/31 Tirana, Albania Tel. + [355] 682053184 artanminarolli@yahoo.comWILDart FILM Pfeilgasse 32/1 1080 Vienna Austria Tel: +43 (0) 1 595 2991 Fax: +43 (0) 1 595 2991 21 www.wildartfilm.comAGAT FILMS & Cie and EX NIHILO 52, rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud 75011 - PARIS, France Tel.: 33 1 53 36 32 32 Fax.: 33 1 43 57 00 22 |
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