Hysen Hakani (1932-2011) "Pioneer" of Albanian directing!

Hysen Hakani 1932 – 2011 Director, "Great Master". The "pioneer" of Albanian film direction was born on July 28, 1932 in Berat. He is known as the director of the first short feature film (Her Daughters – 1957). In 1951, he graduated from the artistic high school "Jordan Misja" in the dramatic department, winning a scholarship to attend higher studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, at the "FAMU" Faculty for film directing. She is one of the first directors educated at the "Alhqiperia e Re" film studio. With the first short film "Femijet e saj" he defended his diploma, after the destruction of the 14-minute film, with five episodes, "To cry and to laugh" (1956) by Viktor Stratoberdhe. The film brings a simple subject, burdened with a dramatic situation, stigmatizing the old habits of life, prejudices and superstitions, which sometimes, due to ignorance, became killers for the health and life of children as well as for people in general. After the films "Tana" by K. Dhamo and "Fortuna" (Soviet-Albanian production), the full-length film "Debatik ” (1961) by Hysen Hakan, marks, in a sense, the turn of Albanian cinema towards a rich language of cinematic image, professional quality and authentic artistic codes. It was this film that gathered in a full shooting team some of the most famous names of Albanian cinema, who would take the safe road tomorrow, according to Dh. Anagnostic; V. Blood; G. Erebara; K. Come out; Todi Bozo etc. Since the first filming, the film "Debatik" has been evaluated by critics as the best of the director, and one of the dignified achievements of Albanian cinema in the beat of the theme and events from the 2nd world war. The beautiful subject, which was inspired by the activity of the "DEBATIK" pioneer organization, has a gallery of characters, where the painful figure of Col stands out, the many vicissitudes and the tragic murder of the little hero, cause deep emotions to the public. The cinematographer's optics have made possible a perverted action, focused on ordinary people and their conscious and passionate acts, from where the heroic spirit of resistance to fascism originates. The poetic character of this film, the truth of the environments, of the ethnocultural details, of the costumes, including the configuration of the photograph, the lyrical and dynamic composition of the frame, the harsh contrapuntal graphics of the lighting, etc. increase its values even further. In 1985, in the retrospective of the Albanian film at the XV International Festival of Children's Films in Salerno (Italy), this film was awarded a "Special Plaque" by the Rotary Club. Another historical film about the war was "Guerrilla Unit" in 1969, which stands out for its tempo, tension and drama… In 1966, he screened Sulejman Pitarke's well-known drama "Fisherman's Family" under the title "Oshetime ne pstost", where the filmic language and the illuminated poetic image of the film "Debate ” gadi suffer a blow in their aesthetic specificity, now becoming masters of the parasitic elements of the drama, long dialogues, etc. His other film "Old Man and Hasmi" (1981) is also about events from the war. Hysen Hakani also shoots other films, but without reaching the height and first inspirations. "Our land" was an almost adequate screening of the well-known drama of Kole Jakove, including its opaque and politicized treatment of the phenomenon of agrarian reform, but the acting values of actresses such as Marije Logoreci, Loro Kovaci, and others are greatly increased its drama. The film "Guest" stands out for the dynamics of the action, the ideographic contrasts, the vision and the values marked in the associative manipulation of light. Hysen Hakani is also involved in the shooting of documentary films, especially in the first two years of his work as a director, from which we can mention: "Feast of health, strength and beauty"; "Let's sing and dance" etc. This early passion has been addressed over the years with the films: "Chronicle of events" (1964); "Up the Red Flags" (1967); "Muslim Peza" (1974); "Faster, higher, farther" (1976); Hysen Hakani has been honored with the title "Great Master". He passed away on February 7, 2011. FILMOGRAPHY 1957 – Her Children 1961 – Debate 1963 – Our Land 1966 – Hello on the Coast 1969 – Guerrilla Unit 1972 – Conscience 1977 – Circus in the Village 1979 – The Guest 1981 – The Old Man and the Encounter 1984 – Sailing first _____________________ Reference: "Encyclopedia – Theater, Albanian Cinematography" J. Papagjoni / p. 2013-2014; "Film Time" publication of the Academy of Sciences (2003); "From literature to film" – Academy of Sciences (2003); "A century goes, a century comes…. Albanian Artistic Film 1996-2003 / Studies for Art No. 10-2004 p. 162-186 etc. ______________ Published for the first time on the "Albanian Cinema" Facebook page in 2013 and revised several times during the following years

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