Xhanfise Keko

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Xhanfise Keko (born Xhanfise Çipi ; born January 27, 1928 in Gjirokastra , † December 22, 2007 in Tirana ) was an Albanian film director and film editor . During her lifetime she was considered the most important female director in her country and was known for her children's films.

life and work

As one of six future Albanian filmmakers, she studied film editing in Moscow from 1950 to 1952 . When she returned to Tirana in 1952, she initially worked as a film editor and, over a period of 17 years, edited around 140 films, mostly news programs and documentaries.

After a few short films, her first feature film as a director was Mimoza llastica (1973).

In the 1950s she was one of the founders of the film studio Kinostudio "Shqipëria e Re" ( German  New Albania ), which remained the only film studio in Albania until the fall of the communist regime. At the opening on July 10, 1952 in Tirana, Keko personally handed Enver Hoxha the scissors to cut the opening ribbon.

Between 1973 and 1984 she directed ten children's films, which made her an icon of this genre in Albanian film. Her children's films dealt with socialist and patriotic themes. Keko's films were shown to children and young people at film afternoons organized by the Albanian pioneer organization, where the films were discussed from an ideological perspective after the screening. The American film scholar Bruce Williams pays tribute to Keko's work because she not only created pure propaganda films , but also defied ideological guidelines with the often individualistic protagonists and a sometimes subversive image of family and state.

Her best-known film outside of Albania is Beni runs alone (1975 - Beni ecën vetë ), which was also shown in theaters and television in the GDR in the 1980s . In this film, a city child overprotected by his parents learns independence and the importance of physical work while staying with his uncle in the country. Keko is also known for a number of films about children as spies. In the first film in the series, Tomka dhe shokët e tij (1977 - Tomka and his friends ), children spy during the Nazi occupation of Albania and help organize an ambush after the occupiers turned the children's football field into one Have repurposed the warehouse. The series was continued with Pas gjurmëve (1978 - On the Track ) and Partizani i vogël Velo (1980 - The Little Partisan Velo ).

Her films were some of the few Albanian films distributed in western countries during communism; Keko's films have been shown several times at the Giffoni Festival in Salerno , Italy. Williams speculates that this is related to the assumption that children's films are easier to abstract from a political context.

Keko was awarded the title of People's Artist of Albania in 1984 when she retired . A street in the Xhamlliku Tiranas district not far from the former film studio is named after her.

She was married to the director Endri Keko . The son of the two was Teodor Keko (1958-2002), a well-known writer.

Her autobiography Ditët e jetës sime (The days of my life) was published posthumously in 2008 .

Filmography (selection)

Direction and editing, unless otherwise stated

  • 1949: Festivali folkloristics - documentary film
  • 1952: Kongresi i 3 i PPSH - documentary film
  • 1961: Ringjallja - documentary film
  • 1963: Tregim për njerzit e punës - documentary film
  • 1966: Miqësi e madhe unitet luftarak - documentary film
  • 1967: Kalitemi pür mbrojtjen e atdheut - documentary film
  • 1967: Gra heroike shqiptare përpara - documentary film
  • 1967: Ato çajnë përpara - documentary film
  • 1968: Plagë të vjetra - feature film, only editing
  • 1968: Lart flamujt e aksioneve - documentary film
  • 1968: Kalitemi nepërmjet aksioneve - documentary film
  • 1969: Nga festivali artistik i fëmijve - documentary film
  • 1970: Tingujt dhe fëmijët - documentary film
  • 1971: ABC ... ZH - short film
  • 1972: Kryengritje në pallat - short film
  • 1972: Shkolla tingujt ngjyra - documentary film
  • 1972: Kongresi i 6 PPSH - documentary film
  • 1973: Krevati i Perandorit - short film, only editing
  • 1973: Mimoza llastica - feature film
  • 1974: Qyteti më i ri në botë - feature film
  • 1975: Beni runs alone ( Beni ecën vetë ) - feature film
  • 1975: Reportazh nga Tropoja - documentary film
  • 1975: Për popullin, me popullin - documentary film
  • 1976: Tingujt e luftës - feature film
  • 1976: Malësorët pas komisarëve - documentary film
  • 1977: Tomka dhe shokët e tij - feature film
  • 1978: Pas gjurmëve - feature film
  • 1980: Partizani i vogël Velo - feature film
  • 1981: Kur po xhirohej një film - feature film, only director
  • 1983: Një vonesë e vogël - feature film, only director
  • 1985: Taulanti kërkon një motër - feature film, only director

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Bruce Williams: It's a wonderful job: women at work in the cinema of communist Albania . In: Studies in Eastern European Cinema . tape 6 , no. 1 , 2015, p. 4–20 , doi : 10.1080 / 2040350X.2014.992127 ( tandfonline.com [PDF]).
  2. ↑ Regjisorja e njohur Xhanfise Keko shpallet "Qytetare Nderi" e Beratit. In: Shqiptaria.com. November 15, 2014, accessed April 13, 2016 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Bruce Williams: Two Degrees of Separation. Xhanfise Keko and the Albanian Children's Film . In: Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media . tape 54 , no. 1 , 2013, p. 40-58 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Keumsil Kim Yoon, Bruce Williams: Two Lenses on the Korean Ethos: Key Cultural Concepts and Their Appearance in Cinema . McFarland, 2015, pp. 237, 261 .
  5. ↑ a b c Bruce Williams: Red Shift. New Albanian Cinema and Its Dialogue with the Old . In: Anikó Imre (Ed.): A Companion to Eastern European Cinemas . John Wiley & Sons, 2012.
  6. ↑ Keko's Kids: Where Are They Now? In: The Albanian Cinema Project. Retrieved April 13, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Beni runs alone. In: Filmdienst . Retrieved April 13, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Keko, Xhanfise
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Çipi, Xhanfise (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Albanian film director and film editor
DATE OF BIRTH January 27, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Gjirokastra
DATE OF DEATH December 22, 2007
Place of death Tirana