Elvira Dones

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Elvira Dones (born July 24, 1960 in Durrës , Albania ) is an Albanian writer, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker who is also a citizen of Switzerland and the USA .

biography

Dones was born in the port city of Durrës. She started reading at the age of four, but believes that she did not understand anything about Marx's Capital at the time . She began to write when she was still at school. She studied Albanian literature and English at the University of Tirana . In 1988 she worked for state television after making her first television appearances at the age of 16. Dones became a mother for the first time at the age of 20 - later she had two more children.

She never returned to Albania from a business trip in 1988: she met her future husband at the Milan International Film Festival and decided at short notice to follow him. So she came to Switzerland on October 25, 1988 . In Albania she was subsequently sentenced to prison in absentia for treason . She was also denied contact with her young son until 1992 after the communist regime collapsed. Dones lived in Switzerland until 2004, where she worked as a writer and television journalist and also produced several documentaries, including for TSI . From 2004 to 2015 she lived in the United States , first in Washington, DC , and later in the San Francisco Bay Area . She has been living in Ticino again since 2015 .

She has written her books in Albanian or Italian . She has won several awards with her films and was nominated for others. Her important documentary “Sworn Virgin” tells of the life of sworn virgins , women in northern Albania who take on the role of men in society after they have sworn eternal virginity. The report was named Best Documentary at the Baltimore Women's Film Festival in 2007 . At the “Prix Littéraire des Jeunes Européens” she received the jury's special prize in 2016 for her book Une petite guerre parfaite . Her book Vergine giurata was filmed in 2015 by Laura Bispuri with Alba Rohrwacher in the leading role. The English translation Sworn Virgin received an award from the English PEN. She is described as "one of the most important contemporary Albanian authors" ( Martina Läubli : Neue Zürcher Zeitung).

In 2015, Dones was a candidate for the position of director of Albanian state television . She is still making documentaries, in 2017 one about Alberto Nessi .

Literary work

"One of the most outstanding authors of our time."

- Ismail Kadare : NDR

The first book Dashuri e huaj (Strange Love) has autobiographical themes. In general, Dones repeatedly makes the role of women in emigration an issue. Her descriptions in Yjet nuk vishën kështu / Sole bruciato of the Albanian mafia and trafficking in women in Italy sparked heated discussions in her home country. Other books are collections of short stories. Dashuri e huaj is an autobiographical story.

“The Tirana-born author has always crossed cultures and languages. Today she commutes between Italian-speaking Switzerland and the United States, writing alternately in Italian and Albanian, translating herself and allowing characters to appear with wavering identities who are in transit or who are banished. "

- Pierre Lepori : LiteraturSchweiz.ch
  • Piccola guerra perfetta. Einaudi, Turin 2011.
    • Little clean war. Ink Press Verlag, Zurich 2018.
    • Une petite guerre parfaite. Métailié, Paris 2013.
    • Luftë e vogël e përkorë. Dudaj Publishing House, Tirana 2012.
  • Vergine giurata. Feltrinelli, Milan 2007.
    • Hana. Ink Press Verlag, Zurich 2016.
    • Sworn Virgin. And Other Stories Publishing, London 2014.
    • Zaprzysiezona dziewica. DodoEditor Publisher, Krakow 2010.
    • Hana. Sejko Publishing House, Elbasan 2007.
  • Më pas heshtja. Sejko Publishing House, Elbasan 2004.
    • I mari ovunque. Interlinea, Novara 2007.
  • I love Tom Hanks. Short stories, Sejko Publishing House, Elbasan 2002.
  • Ditë e bardhë e fyer. Sejko Publishing House, Elbasan 2001.
    • Bianco giorno offeso. Interlinea, Novara 2004.
  • Yjet nuk vishën kështu. Sejko Publishing House, Elbasan 2001.
    • Soleil brûlé. Editions Anne Carrière, Paris 2005.
    • Sole bruciato. Feltrinelli, Milan 2001.
  • Lule të gabuara. Short stories, Onufri, Tirana 1999.
  • Cardigan. Çabej, Tirana 1998.
  • Dashuri e huaj. Çabej, Tirana 1997.
    • Senza bagagli. Besa, Lecce 1998.

Filmography

  • 2003: Cercando Brunilda
  • 2004: I ngujuar / Inchiodato (Nailed)
  • 2006: Sworn Virgins (English; about the sworn virgins of Albania )
  • 2010: Don't Kill My Father

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Harold B. Segel: The Columbia literary history of Eastern Europe since 1945 . Columbia University Press, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-231-13306-7 , pp. 360 f . ( books.google.com ).
  2. ↑ a b c Rudina Xhunga: Shqip, intervistë me Elvira Dones. In: Top Channel . Gazeta Shqip , February 25, 2013, accessed August 15, 2016 (Albanian).
  3. ↑ a b Kush është Elvira Dones? In: Agjencioni Floripress. December 24, 2015, accessed August 15, 2016 (Albanian).
  4. ↑ a b Elvira Dones. In: Swiss Films. Retrieved August 15, 2016 .
  5. ↑ a b c d Martina Läubli: Suddenly freedom before your eyes . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . November 29, 2017 ( nzz.ch [accessed December 1, 2017]).
  6. ↑ Elvira Dones. In: Le prix littéraire des jeunes européens. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016 ; Retrieved August 15, 2016 (French).
  7. ↑ Biography. In: Elvira Dones. Retrieved August 15, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Alexander Rahne: Elvira Dones' Documentary Sworn Virgins Examines A Centuries-Old Custom In Albania. In: Women's UN Report Network. December 25, 2007, accessed August 15, 2016 .
  9. ^ Edition 2016. In: Le Prix Littéraire des Jeunes Européens. May 21, 2016, archived from the original on October 29, 2016 ; Retrieved August 15, 2016 (French, coup de cœur).
  10. ↑ Vergine giurata. In: Swiss Films. Retrieved August 15, 2016 .
  11. ↑ English PEN. Retrieved August 15, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Elvira Dones dorëzon platforms për të drejtore RTSH-së. In: Panorama online. June 10, 2015, accessed August 15, 2016 (Albanian).
  13. ↑ Mirko Schwanitz: Return to Femininity. In: ndr.de. December 16, 2016, accessed January 4, 2017 .
  14. ^ Robert Elsie : Historical Dictionary of Albania (=  Historical Dictionaries of Europe . No. 75 ). 2nd Edition. Scarecrow Press, Lanham / Toronto / Plymouth 2010, ISBN 978-0-8108-6188-6 , Dones, Elvira, pp. 116 .
  15. ^ Pierre Lepori: Elvira Dones: Vergine giurata. (No longer available online.) In: Literatur Schweiz. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016 ; accessed on August 15, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Inchiodato. In: Swiss Films. Retrieved August 15, 2016 .
  17. ^ Womans UN Report Network (WUNRN): Albania - Film on Historical Custom of Sworn Virgin Oath for Male Rights - Kanun Patriarchal Code. December 25, 2007 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Dones, Elvira
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Albanian writer, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker
DATE OF BIRTH July 24, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Durrës , Albania