By Ermira Isufaj
Memorie.al / Quite by chance she would touch the cinema and the world of spectacle, but she would remain there for a long time…! Interpretation in several prominent roles and representation in a daring artistic subject for the time, caused Rezana Çeliku to immediately become ingrained in the minds of viewers. Fired from RTSH for “sabotage”, who in the realization of this interview was at the age of 50, unmarried and with the eternal burden of the absence of a child. She also shared interesting details from her artistic experience and today’s professional career.
Her protagonism in feature films would be entirely at amateur levels. She had not stepped foot in the auditoriums of the Academy of Arts and had no inherited artistic talent. It seems that the ability to quickly assimilate things, the charming face and above all the naturalness of challenging situations, were immediately “absorbed” by Albanian film directors, certainly after her prominence as a presenter of several national song festivals on RTSH.
For Rezana Çeliku, her entire artistic past is fixed as if on a celluloid. The successive interpretations, the involvement in the world of spectacle and presentation and the departure only due to a “carelessness”, which would later be billed as an attempt at sabotage by the leaders of Albanian Television, would serve as a “lesson” for the life of the charming girl. The professional attention for Rezana was more far-sighted than that. With a long career in the Municipality of Tirana and the burden of a truncated family life, the actress spoke some time ago in this interview that we are publishing in this article.
Ms. Rezana, you are remembered as the not-so-moral girl in “A Boy and a Girl”, or the teacher the coach falls in love with in the movie “Teammates” …! What is your life like today…?
It has been many years since I left the world of art and cinema. After my last performance in 1989 in the movie “A Boy and a Girl”, I left acting. Because I did not see it as my choice for my professional future. At the same time, I also gave up on television presentations. I graduated in Economics and Law and have been working for the Municipality of Tirana, in the Public Relations Department, for several years. The profession I practice fulfills me, beyond my passion for cinema.
So, how did you end up in the world of film?
Before the directors arrived at my selection, they had evaluated my presentations at several youth festivals held at RTSH. I had not completed my studies at the Academy of Arts. So, except as an amateur, I could not appear otherwise. Surely my appearance, silhouette, eloquence of speech and the naturalness with which I undertook every acting challenge convinced the directors to reach out to me.
Initially, it was director Pirro Milkani who selected me for the role of ‘Meli’ in “Lady from the City”, a role which was later entrusted to Rajmonda Bulku. Of course, Rajmonda was a professional actress, born for that job, and this fact did not come as a “surprise” to me, because acting was not my goal in itself.
So, the director entrusted me with another role, that of Vali, the girl who is chosen as the youth secretary. Then it was Kujtim Çashku who chose me for “They Were Four”, the partisan among hundreds of men fighting in the mountains. And other interpretations followed one after another.
In the film “A Boy and a Girl”, you are the centralist who has a love affair with a younger boy…! Wasn’t it a brave role for the time?
To be honest, this role was somewhat unwanted on my part. At the time, I was working as a math teacher in a village in Tirana. I took my bicycle to work every day and it had come to me. I accepted the proposal for this interpretation immediately, because I wanted to leave teaching for a while.
Dubbing after dubbing, I realized that it was not a very common role, for the period around the ’80s (1989 to be exact), when it was interpreted and for the mentality of the time. After that role, I felt the weight of prejudiced opinion a lot, so much so that one day a person close to my family told me that, since I had not chosen acting as my life’s profession, why should I dare with such an excessive role?! Even the moment of getting into bed with my partner was another embarrassing moment for me. I had a few moments of hesitation, but I managed.
Just to escape my job as a teacher, risking this role even though it could offend you?
This was not the only inherent reason. Acting was a matter of passion for me, because after the previous interpretations I had had, it had entered my blood like “sugar”. Thank God, I had never had any obstacles from my family. I even had strong support and encouragement from my father on the path to art. This role was truly courageous, but not impossible. I tried and managed to be part of a wonderful cast of actors and a successful film.
After a short period as a programming presenter at RTSH, you left television, what was the reason?
I left television because of an incident. I went to work every afternoon and, before going on screen, I had to do my own makeup. It was a plug-in device that heated the curlers I wore in my hair in water. One night I had forgotten to unplug it…! The next day the director of Television called me to the office and told me that I had caused a serious incident. The curling iron had burned down because I had forgotten to unplug it. But the reason for the suspension was somewhere else.
According to them, the makeup studio was next to the news studio and that year the elections for the People’s Assembly would be held and, if the news studio had caught fire, all the necessary archives and materials would have disappeared. They tried to describe this act as sabotage, which would have had serious consequences for me. That was the reason why they removed me from the screen, and then I never tried to return there.
Rezana, beyond film and television, beyond your professional engagement in the Municipality of Tirana, what is your family life, civil status?
I do not consider the fact that I am unmarried a misfortune. I believe that a couple of lovers who are not complete with a child cannot be considered a real family. Things happened like this and I prefer not to give more details…!
Do you have any obstacles in life?
The biggest obstacle in my life is the lack of a child. Today, after reaching 50, it is too late to undo the past. Unfortunately, I no longer have time. Memorie.al
