The role of children in Albanian cinema!

HAPPY JUNE 1st, THE CHILDREN`S DAY !

Since today is June 1, let’s talk a little about children, teasing some memories from our childhood. More specifically, we will focus on this article, on their role in Albanian cinema. The presence of children, little actors in Albanian films has been numerous and especially important in films with war topic, but also with other topic they turned into small heroes of the Albanian scene, through the roles they played and even today in lives are remembered by our friends with the names of the characters, starting with Beni and Jeta “the balloon” to “Beni walks by himslef”, Tomka, to “Tomka and his friends”, Nertil Duli, to “Our friend Tili, Miri, to “In our house”, Coli in “Debatik”, Taulanti in “Taulanti is looking for a sister or Mimoza in “Mimoza Llastica” etc.

Through the video above and the album following this article, this page will remember and bring to mind some of them, the most prominent ones, although without pretending that we will mention them all.

There are many of them and most of them have not continued the path of art. Others continued their lives practicing professions completely different from acting, being “big” actors when they were small, while now they live an ordinary life, but most importantly, they play the role of parents in real life.

DONALD KOKONA (Taulanti) Who is more than 20 years old cannot help but remember the character of the movie “Taulanti is looking for a sister”. His name is Donald Kokona, today an architect. Four and a half years old was selected by director Xhanfize Keko to be part of that children’s film. There were two basic characteristics that Keko was looking for: “bowl” hair and being brunette. At that time, you could find a lot of “bowl” and brown hair, but a small actor who had the chemistry that the film needed…difficult! Everyone fell in love with his appearance and way of speaking in that period, so much so that today they continue to call him Taulanti, which he doesn’t like that much. It seems to him that “Taulanti” has stolen a part of his identity.
Donaldi remembers with nostalgia the moments of filming, the whims of a child, even though in those moments he did not understand that he was becoming part of a movie and that he would be the “Vip” child of the time. “I was spoiled and I lived a happy childhood”, he says in his confessions.

HERION MUSTAFARAJ (Beni) “Beni walks on his own” is one of the most successful films of director Xhanfize Keko, as well as its protagonist, Herion Mustafaraj (Beni). Like most of this generation, Mustafaraj does not live in Albania. He already lives in America together with his family. He was one of the “Vip” children of the 80s.

SELMA SOTIRIADHI
She stood out as a little girl, the “balloon” (tullumbace) in the movie “Beni walks on his own”. This little girl is also a protagonist in several other films, being quite successful and a favorite for directors other than Keko. This is how she performed in the films “The Youngest City in the World”, “Tomka and his friends”, “My Wedding Toast”, “Spring in Gjirokastër” and “Mesonjetorja”. Then, when she grew up, she did not prefer acting, but foreign languages. Selma was no longer committed to the big screen.

PETRO PAPAKOSTA (Velo)

“I came to liberate Albania…” Do you remember the quote of the boy with a southern accent in the film with a patriotic theme “The Little Partisan Velo”. He needed a rifle to join the partisan and to fight against nazi invaders…
Today, Petro Papakosta (Velo) is no longer looking for a rifle, but a pen, as he has devoted himself to writing, where he has published books of poems and essays. His profession has nothing to do with acting. ADMIR SORRA (Gjino)
Dhimitër Anagnosti’s “Tale from the Past” is one of the pearls of Albanian cinematography. There was another child actor in this film who did not follow this path when he grew up. For Admir Sorra, the actor who plays the role of Gjino, it was the only participation in a film. Although he has been praised for a perfect performance of that role, he does not try it anymore… The boy from Vlora, today lives in Italy and has rarely appeared in Albania. ENEA ZHEKU (Tomka)
“Tomka and his friends” can be said to have been one of the most loved films for children. Production of the years 77′. This was another brilliance of Xhanfize Keko, but also a brilliance of the little actor Enea Zhegu (Tomka). Like the majority of this generation, even Zhegu has not continued the acting path, although he returned as an actor in a role in the series “Millenium” in the year 2013.
Enea performed in several other films such as Ziguri in the film “Man with a cannon”, or even in the film “One more life”. Unfortunately, he passed away prematurely on May 20, 2022.

SHPETIM ZHANI (Coli), is another charming character in Albanian film, the one who materialized the beautiful role of Coli in the film “Debatik”. Even Shpëtim Zani could not make a name for himself as an actor, but all his life he was proud of that beautiful role he played as a child. In this film, there were several other little actors who later made a name for themselves, such as Roland Trebicka, Dhimitër Pecani, etc. Unfortunately, Zani no longer lives. ZHAKLINA DHIMOJANI
The small sling named Mimoza is still admired by children of that age. In this role, Zhaklina Dhimojani shone, leaving her name behind, and why she didn’t deal with films later. Today she continues her life in Switzerland where she has built her family there. There have been some sporadic experiences in art, but that’s it. She continued her studies in economics and today her life continues in a different direction. MANJOLA BEGOLLI (Rudina)
Rudina, the charming protagonist of the film comedy “Twice check mate”, is a beautiful, pleasant and finely performed role by Manjola Begolli. This role was enough for Magnola to mark her name in the book of Albanian films, for which she is undoubtedly grateful to Bujar Kapexhiu. Whenever chess is remembered, her name and figure are inseparable, today she is an economist and maintains an excellent physical shape. ILIR CELIA “Adushi”, acted in several films as a small actor, but also when he was in his youth. After the first film “Uprising in the Palace”, he was the protagonist in the films “River Lights”, “With the steps of friends” and “A little Partisan Velo”. STRAZIMIR ZAIMI is remembered in “Poppies on the Wall” in the role of Jace, which was one of the central and beautiful roles in this film. In this film, director Anagnosti has engaged many children who also stood out. Then, when he grew up, Zaimi acted in 3-4 other films, such as in the films “Stones of my house”, “Flutura in my cabin”, “And one day comes”.

KRENAR ARIFI is Sulo from the movie “Poppies on the Wall”. His role is the climax of the film and remained long in the memory of the viewer. Krenari later acted in the films “From the middle of Darkness” and “Old Cartridge”

SOKOL GOXHI, the “passionate violinist” during the war, performed for the first time in Xh. Kekos “The sounds of war”. Then he performed in the movie “Postponed Wedding”.

GENTI BASHA, the little boy who suffered the drama of separated parents in the film “When a film was shot”, was the actor selected by Xhanfise Keko. The small actor performed several other roles with success, such as in the films “The Treasure”, “A little delay”, “The first night of freedom”, etc. EPTAN LOHJA was selected by Dhimitër Anagnosti for the role of Mir in the film “In our house”, a film that stuck and left its mark. This film is still watched with fondness today, and remains one of the most successful. Lohja also acted in the film “A general is taken prisoner”, while later he did not deal with the film, but today he finds himself next to TV Klan.

The big cinema screen could not do without the children, while the latter proved that they could live without the film.

Other names that left their mark even in two or three
films are : MURAT BASHA in “Commissar of light”, as a student of Dritan Shkaba, who later also plays in the film “Old Wounds”, the little boy in the hospital, who touches Ndreka’s mustache. Murat Basha, today is a well-known and active name in politics. Today he is a member of the city council of the capital and one of the closest members of the royal family.
ARBEN LATIFI in “Our friend Tili” in the role of protagonist Nertil Duli KOLE PRELA in the movie “Valley of Riflemen”.
KLAJDI KAPEXHIU Plays in the movie “Benches in the Park”, but he also performed in the movie “Red flowers, black flowers”.
ALTIN VELAJ in the role of Bato in the movie “Pirate’s Cave”, where he was not seen in the movie later.
BLEDAR RUDI in the movie “Mother’s Heart”.
VIVIAN RAMA to “Bullet made of plasticine”, and many others.

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Albanian Cinematography in activity since 2013
Reference “Dita” online article by Entela Resuli (May 2014) Adapted for the Facebook page that in June 2016.

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