DIRECTOR KUJTIM GJONAJ (1946 – 2021) IS PASSED AWAY!

Another great loss of Albanian art caused by Covid-19. Director and screenwriter Kujtim Gjonaj 1946 – 2021 is changing his life. He was born on November 13, 1946 in the city of Tirana. In 1968, he finished his higher studies at the University of Tirana, Department of Languages and Literature, and that same year he started working as an editor of documentary film scripts at the "New Albania" Kinostudio. In 1974, he became a director in the documentary film sector, writing many of the scripts for these films, about 100 of them. His first film is the brothers Topulli, Bajo and Çerçizi, which he made as early as 1972. Then, as the second film, it will be a short documentary of 7 minutes about the 22nd attacking brigade of Peza (1974). His career is dominated by the art of directing, and for about 35 years I shot over 65 documentary films, where a wide range of themes is encountered on the life of the country, personalities and historical events, artists and writers, the occurrence of social, economic, scientific and cultural problems. Here we can mention "Great Uprisings", "Castle of Songs" (1988); "In the footsteps of a story"; "The last days of a lion"; "Mother Teresa"; "Jeronim De Rada"; "Photography"; "The walking encyclopedia" (Faik Konica); To single out the films "Uprising", a film dedicated to the war for independence, the uprisings of 1910-12 (1978), and in 1982 "The Albanian connection of Prizren", "The greatest love" in 1988 was named movie of the year. The greatest love is Albania. Some of the documentary films have been awarded with national and international awards. In 1982, he will be awarded the 2nd Prize in the National Literary-Artistic Screenplay Competition for the script of the film "Great Uprisings", in 1986 the film "The Greatest Love" will be awarded as the best film of the year. , on April 23, 1990, the film "Castle of Songs" would be awarded the Festival Cup at the VIII Albanian Documentary and Cartoon Film Festival, in 1995, the film "The Fall of Idols" would be awarded the I- at the International Short Film Festival in Palermo (Palermo Film Festival), in 1998 it would also be awarded the 1st Prize at the 5th International Mediterranean Documentary and Reportage Film Competition (Premio Internazionale del Documentario e del Reportage Mediterraneo). He has also been a screenwriter for the film studio at the Gjirokastra Folklore Festival. As a co-director (with Ali Kamberi) in 1983, they made the next Festival of Gjirokastra with a script by Xhevahir Spahi. In 1988, he stood firm in the editorial office and in the Artistic Council to take over the direction of the Festival. They trusted him again. Kujtim Gjonaj wanted in this Festival to go beyond the figurative side to the thought, the idea, that carried with it every song and every dance. In the feature film he has written four scripts, we mention here the script of the film "The Call" which would be his first script in the feature film in 1976, the films "They were four" and "Circus in the village" in 1977, the film "Councillors" in 1979. After the 90s, Kujtim Gjonaj was for a while the Director of Alba Film and then created a film production house, "Bota Shqiptare" (1997), between which he continues his professional creativity. This production house is also a publishing house through which the publisher Gjonaj produces the biographies of prominent figures of the nation such as Ali Pasha Tepelen, Faik Konica, Jeronim De Rada, Naim Frashëri, Mother Teresa, Sulejman Pitarka (Artist of the People)). etc. These biographies then serve as the basis for the scripts of documentary films about these figures. With the documentary "Encyclopedia that walks on foot", Kujtim Gjonaj was awarded the Festival Cup at the XII Albanian Documentary Film Festival held in Tirana in 2006. In 2002, he was honored with the title "Naim Frasheri i Arte" Feature films, screenplays : The Call, (1976); "Circus in the village"; They Were Four, (1977); Advisors, (1979) Other documentaries: "Zeri yt Rini"; "The passionate researcher"; "Contemporaries"; "City on canvas"; "Etyd near the sea"; "When a youth song starts"; "With the sea inside"; "Sons of Valieas (1984); "Toward Europe"; "Mirage in the desert" (1991); "The Fall of the Idols (1993); Changed life on February 28, 2021 from Covid-19. ______________________________ Albanian Cinematography Reference: Director's interview in 2011 with Albert Zholi; Information extracted from Albanian online portals. The book "Encyclopedia, Theater and Albanian Cinematography" – Toena 2009 / p. 171-172 (Papagjoni J.)