Asim, one of the sons of an old engine driver, has gone astray: he does not like to work and is not happy with the modest place he has in life; he even reproaches his father for not having "profited more from life" and for having failed" to secure a cozy future for his children". His other son, Kujtim, is a modest worker.
It narrates the sad story of several characters during the war in Kosova 1998-1999. "The Code of Life" is based on the conflict between the humane and the inhumane sides. "Code of Life" is sequenced into three dramaturgical points of view, which interlink with each other as the film progresses, and as we come closer to the end everything falls into its place. The movie ends with the triumph of the humane side.
This film is a powerful drama that depicts the aftermath of war and its impact on the lives of individuals and society.
In 1990, a mechanic in Albania named Alexander Gruda undertook one of the most daring feats in recent human history. After being fired by the navy for dissidence, he hijacked a warship in order to gain freedom for himself and his family.
Shot in the Kosovar village of Nevokaze, it depicts the traditional lifestyle of an Albanian family numbering 117 members, all living under one roof and in great harmony. One of the finest examples of ethnographic film to come from this region, it has been called a ‘spiritual portrait of the nation’.
Amel is an actress who seeks for her destiny in an audition organized by a foreign production. Finally she gets announced that she got a part in the movie. Amel feels lucky, however, is she going to have the same luck also in the world of movies? Her path towards an acting career will be difficult.
Met Sokoli is a young pioneer who fights against a band of saboteurs entering Albania.
It revolves around a clown (as a metaphoric figure for an average citizen) whom finds himself in a wrong place at the wrong time and undergoes as a victim of someone else's crime.
A story about a little boy who lives in Tirana, the capital of Albania.
A group of friends decide to spend the night at a villa, but everything changes when they encounter an environmentalist.
A group of partisan girls and women go on a journey in order to take part in the first Congress of the Anti-Fascist Women in Berat.
Çesku's life changes forever when, in post-war Albania, communism comes to power, killing and persecuting the people he holds dearest. However, the pursuit of a final wish may be the only thing keeping Çesku alive, offering him a window of hope in a hopeless land.
In the north of communist Albania, in an isolated mountain village, the life of a family will change forever. Patriarchal norms and traditions have transformed the inhabitants. Shpresa, only 17-year-old, suddenly reveals she is pregnant from a secret love affair. Shpresa's mom does her best to stop her daughter in giving birth to this baby. Sokol, Shpresa's father, unaware of his daughter's pregnancy, asks for the help of the village nurse, Theresa, as he thinks Shpresa is severely ill. The girl's mother puts the nurse ahead of an accomplished fact, to abort the child, who would permanently stain the family with shame, even if it risked her daughter's life.
Tom Melgushi, becoming overexcited from alcohol, wanders around the streets disturbing people. And one day, Flutura, a teacher of the village, gets on his cab, and there was a glimpse of hope for a stable relationship with the young woman. Tom becomes subject of public criticism after Flutura's accident, because she jumped out of the cab fearing Tom's violence.
Bjondi, a man around 35 years, faces with schizophrenic symptoms as a result of a bad story happened in his family. The death of the only daughter and the loss of his wife, forces Bjondi to give a duty to his friend Sam to find his wife's killer.
Set in an area between the Yugoslavia and Albanian border in the year 1968, an idealist teacher wants to cross the border to Albania, where he believes he will find a state of ideal communism.
By 1980, Albania had broken with all the world’s superpowers. The isolation pushed the country into a corner. Industrial production slowed to a virtual standstill. Lines grew for bread, meat and milk. To inspire the typical socialist worker, this Kinostudio production highlighted the achievements of a model labourer who’s met his work goals thirty years into the future. Director Musliu ironically mirrors much of the ridiculous rhetoric that filled most of the era’s state-controlled media.
A family of four must live an everyday life while the world around them shatters during the armed conflict 2001. While the bombing is ongoing these two parents are in a constant dilemma, protecting and sheltering their children inside thefour walls of their home, as they beg to play in the sun, or allowing them to play and have a childhood, while they’re still young enough to be shielded by their innocence and ignorance. Whatever may happen, summer cannot stop its flow. As the watermelons grow ripe, the tobacco leaves dry and turn to gold, colonies of ants gather their food, the clock never stops ticking, and the bombs continue to fall around the mountain of Ljuboten.
Albania and neighboring Yugoslavia officially broke ties in 1948. But in 1971, the Hoxha regime was honored to welcome the ethnic Albanian actor Bekim Fehmiu (1936-2010), at the time an international star in Yugoslav theater and film. Before his trip to Albania, Fehmiu had appeared in the popular Italian television smash The Odyssey (1968) and the Cannes-winning I Even Met Happy Gypsies (1967). Dokufest will also feature a photo exhibit of recently-discovered still images taken during Bekim Fehmiu’s Albanian visit.
