Gjergj Xhuvani, a director, screenwriter, and producer, passed away. He was born in Tirana in 1963. In 1986, he completed his studies at the Higher Institute of Arts as an actor, and that same year, he was appointed to the “Shqipëria e Re” Film Studio. He worked as an assistant director on several films. He is the author or co-author of all the screenplays for his films, generally written in collaboration with the renowned writer and screenwriter Dhimitër Xhuvani. Bardhë e Zi (Black and White) is his first short film, made in 1991. In the following years, he lovingly continued to produce short and medium-length films, managing to unravel human dramas with emotional depth. The phenomenon of the alienation of a newly affected person, introduced in Bardhë e Zi, is revisited ten years later in Parullat (2001), a film that was selected and awarded in the first works section at the Cannes Film Festival, and was subsequently shown in several European cinemas. In this film, the essential values of Xhuvani’s work are most prominent: a simple and precise directorial approach, and the deeply realistic construction of the image of a life and microcosm, in sync with all cinematic elements. Parullat, aside from Cannes, was honored with the Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Film Festival. The film E diela e fundit (The Last Sunday) (1992) won the special jury prize for short films at the Mediterranean Film Festival “Bastille 93” in France, while the film Dashuria e fundit (The Last Love) (1994) won the award for best direction at the Xth Albanian Film Festival.
Text : Josif Papagjoni
Photo: © National Film Center
Graphic Processing: AHCF
