Feature film
Tana
Kristaq Dhamo · 1958
Synopsis
In a mountain village of Albania in the fifties, Tana, a lively, open young woman won over to the new ideas, works at the cooperative and loves Stefani. Two men contend for her heart: Stefani's love is opposed by Lefter's jealousy, and she must also stand up to her grandfather, who has remained faithful to the old ways of thinking. The love story unfolds amid collective labour, in the light and movement of the fields.
Context
The film is based on a novel by Fatmir Gjata, who wrote the screenplay with Nasho Jorgaqi. It is the first film of the Kinostudio of Tirana, and its young director also made it his graduation work for the Budapest school. Shot in Tirana and Korça, to music by Çesk Zadeja, it was released in cinemas on 17 July 1958. A kissing scene, which had to be shot twenty-nine times, was later cut. The national film archive restored it from 2020, and the restored print was shown at the Lumière festival in October 2022.
Who it is for
A black-and-white drama of barely an hour and a half, spoken in Albanian, long rare outside the country and viewable since its restoration.
Prizes and reception
The first entirely Albanian feature-length fiction film; shown at the first Moscow International Film Festival, then distributed in China.
Sources for this page 4
The pages consulted to check this page.