Viktor Gjika (1937-2009), screen poet Commemorative!

Viktor Gjika (1937-2009) is considered one of the greatest Albanian filmmakers. Director, cinematographer, screenwriter. In the beginning it was a dream…. The dream awakened the dream, The dream, youth, fiery passion Conquered the cinema screen! Eh! Cinema expensive cinema Full of truth, full of visions Cinema dear my life! He was born in Korce, on June 23, 1937. He completed his higher studies at the Higher Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. His first film as a cinematographer was "Njeriu kurre nuk vdes", co-authored with Dhimiter Anagnosti for his thesis, based on the story of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. The main role is played by Pirro Mani, who was also a directing student in Moscow at the time. This film won First Prize at the World Film School Festival in Lodz, Poland, in 1960. After finishing his studies, he started working as an operator in the Kinostudio "Alhqiperia e Re" and then as a director. In the period 1984-1990, he was the director of this movie studio. In the years 1982-1990, he was elected deputy in two legislatures in the People's Assembly and a member of the Presidency of the League of Writers and Artists of Albania. From 1992 – 1997, member of the advisory board of the "European Film College" (Denmark) and jury member at the International Film Festivals in Istanbul, Montpellier, etc. While in the years 1997 – 2001 he was the artistic director of TV Arberia and Tele Norba Shqiptare. He started his work as a cinematographer with Dhimiter Anagnosti with the filming of the feature film "Debatik" in 1961. The film "Commissioner of Light" in 1966 came out as an independent director, together with Dhimiter Anagnosti. The understanding of the topic of children's education and the effort to spread education through the villages of the northern highlands, in the first years after World War II, came through dramatic and tragic tones. Dritan Shkaba, apart from the sublime format of the hero who persistently realizes his social mission, is also reflected in the lyrical, poetic and psychological levels, as a beloved son and teacher, as a boy in love and a missionary. The epic-dramatic spirit, the social environment and time, the wealth of filmic tropes that take on ideological meaning, the rhythm, the music, the emotional acting and the figurative composition of the frame make this film valuable even today. The film "Rruge te bardha" in 1974 is similar in terms of the typology of the hero, except that the model offered through the protagonist Dede (interpreted by Rikard Ljarje) is that of a simple, ordinary, ordinary man. who performs the heroic act as a necessity to fulfill the assigned task and as personal responsibility. The linearity of the subject with few digressions, the environments and real phenomena of the icy weather, the syncretic relationship of the hero with the crowd, the people's concern for his life and fate, along with the music, the beautiful camera, are instantly recognizable values. It has been mentioned several times that the director Gjika in this film, the route described by the hero's torture and drowning at the top of the pillar, is similar to the sufferings, the ordeal of Christ's walk to Golgotha and his crucifixion (it is admitted that the great director Viktor Gjika has was also a little religious); The intention to bring the simple man who turns into a hero, in an extraordinary situation, by pointing out the problems of attitude towards work and the social community, also with a sense of humor, is the concern of the director in the film "Open Horizons" made in 1968. of the Liberation War Viktor Gjika has treated it in several films such as: "I teti ne bronz", "Stars of the long nights", "Man with a ball". What they have in common is drama, epic scenes, open conflicts. The three create a tension that is also expressed externally through scenes of war, assassinations, torture, extreme situations, gatherings, focusing on a figure around whom all the others either gather or are connected: in the first a communist militant, in the second, a strong centrist woman who endures the pain of the murder of children in Louft, in the third, a villager shaken by the blood feud on the way to the understanding of guilt, as well as his spiritual reformation. "The Eighth in Bronze" is the most accomplished, also from the compositional point of view, with the bust of Ibrahim walking from the city to the village, which connects the memories of others in the form of digressions along the subjective line, which creates the overall ideographic structure: from the hero to his time, from yesterday to today, thus updating the leitmotif and ideological order of the film itself. "General Gramophone" is one of the films with ideological weight and an intelligent choice, built on a pure metaphor: the triumph of Albanian music, that is, of the national spirit over the fascist cultural aggression and its aim for the destruction of identity, what happens next in the political dimension of the conflict. The historical event of the declaration of Independence and Ismail Qemalit's journey from Durres to Vlora to carry it out are the basis of the epic film "November the Second". As in other films, Viktor Gjika interweaves massive scenes with the fates of special individuals, the hero with Time and the social environment, the many difficulties and vicissitudes that culminate either with a lucky, triumphant choice, or in other cases, with a choice tragic, but not to lose faith and optimism for a better tomorrow. In these waters, the film "Confrontation" is built, based on an extraordinary situation: the provision of bread for the population. Beyond the "big" events, motives and conflicts, with the film "Ne cdo stine" (1980), the director brings a completely lyrical-poetic human relief, a love song between the problems and the riddle of student youth. Viktor Gjika tends towards the epic, the dramatic, building believable scenes and episodes, not infrequently in a "rough" style, for example the shooting of the villagers in the lema or the inn of Sali Protopapa in the steppe of Bamke Qylollari (in the eighth bronze), the meeting of the villagers and the house of Mere Fiz (K. Roshi) in the film "The Man with the Cannon", the surroundings of the sea port (Open Horizons), the partisan battle and Mother Pashako in the fascist command (Stars of the Long Nights), the village market and the delivery of grain to the warehouse (Confrontation), the accompanying horsemen of Ismail Qemali and the popular mass in the declaration of the Act of Independence (November 2). The interweaving of the epic-dramatic element with the lyrical-poetic element is part of Viktor Gjike's style, for example the harshness of the weather, Dede's journey and his love for Zane, the clothes drying on the stove, the warm lyrical music of the film "Ruge te bardha", the conflict for the completion of the work, the storm at sea, the cranes chirping like birds and the sealessness in the film "Open Horizons. From the compositional point of view, some films are based on a journey, which becomes a central figure and a metaphor (as I mentioned above, the journey of Dede, of Ismail Qemali, of the bus of Ibrahim Kovac, of Biga Lundruesa, even of the grain carts, of the ball, of Albanian folk music in films, respectively). In the films of this director, the hero comes to the most stable and reliable side of his character, as close as possible to the truth, humane and simple, contrary to falsehood and inflation, few conceptual clichés of socialist realism, especially elements of political utopia, false ideals and moral puritanism could not be excluded. Love is a ubiquitous motif in his films, beautifully described, with poetry and warm lyricism. In addition to feature films, Viktor Gjika has also made a name for himself in documentary films, a passion that this beginner has pursued throughout his 50-year career. He focuses on the hard work of people in the construction of the country, important historical figures, or those from the cultural fields, being both a director and screenwriter: "Four songs for the Party"; "When November comes"; "You live, you live, you don't die Fan Noli"; "I am Ismail Qemali"; "Anthoni Athanas"; "Mr. Subterfuge"; "Language that does not die"; "When the ravens fly" etc. He has won many awards, among them the Republic Award for the films: "Bistrica 63"; "White streets"; "General Gramophone"; "Enver Hoxha long live"; Other films such as: "Albanian Art in the Centuries"; "Confrontation"; "Light of the Party"; "Gjeneral Gramafoni" has won cups of festivals as well as documentary or artistic films. In the documentary film, he alternates the detailed description of the environment, people, work, within a natural and direct truth as in "Bistrica 63", as well as poetic language, symbols with overlays of metaphors, syntheses as in "when November comes" ". Viktor Gjika has also contributed to the movement of aesthetic thought on cinematography in many articles published in the press. He holds the title "People's Artist". Changed life in Tirana on March 3, 2009. ARTISTIC CAREER As a director When the crows fly (2000) I am Ismail Qemali (1997) Antoni Athanas (1995) Vitet e rinise (1988) Vjette e nxte e '41 (1985) Enver Hoxha, tungjatjeta (1983) Second November (1982) Koha e Party (1981) Besniku i Party (1980) Ne cdo stine (1980) Near the hearths, parve hearts (1979) Gramophone general (1978) The man with the ball (1977) The confrontation (1976) Albanian art in the centuries (1974) Four songs for the Party (1974) White Streets (1974) The Stars of the Long Nights (1972) 10 Days of Attack (1970) 1 May 1970 (1970) The Eighth in Bronze (1970) Open Horizons (1968) The Winners (1966) Why They Think these mountains (1965) Bistrice '63' (1964) When November comes (1964) Meetings in Helsinki (1962) Man never dies (1961) As a writer When the crows fly (2000) I am Ismail Qemali (1997) Antoni Athanas (1995) ) People in the Current (1989) In Every Season (1980) The Ball Man (1977) Four Songs for the Party (1974) Long Night Stars (1972) 10 Days of Attack (1970) May 1, 1970 (1970) Eighth in Bronze (1970) . 1966) Why These Mountains Think (1965) Bistrice '63' (1964) The Silence That Speaks (1964) When November Comes (1964) Special Assignment (1963) Meetings in Helsinki (1962) Debate (1961) Man Never Dies (1961) ) As a producer The Ballad of Kurbini (1990) Youthful years (1988) Nothing is forgotten (1985) Love your name (1984) As a cameraman Vendetta – Blutrache in Albanien (1996) Sleep (film) (1961) ____________________ Albanian cinematography in activity since 2013. Reference: "Encyclopedia – Albanian Theater and Cinematography" / Papagjoni J. / p.166-167-168.

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