By Ben Andoni
Memorie.al / True, Tirana in the 1920s and 1930s did not resemble other sister Balkan metropolises in terms of infrastructure, but its interests began to be very large. This is shown by the large number of cinemas in the city, which spread a new culture in the new capital of Albanians. But everything has an end. 100 years later, Tirana has lost its cinema halls, while the former ones are being forgotten even in memories…!
“Tutkun, open your eyes”; “Don’t push”; “Will there be kisses”?; “Go away, you scum, they won’t wash you at home”; “You stink”; “Dad, 5 Fronga”; “Oh how I cried yesterday…”; “Mama…”; Sighs. Tears Wide-eyed eyes fixed on the white beret. Suddenly, from above, some spittle flies in the air. “Trash, you’re a world away from cinema”…?!
Don’t think its “Kinema Paradiso” with the subject of Tornatore. No, no, nothing. It’s a common situation in one of the former cinemas of Tirana, today our city of millions, which in the 1920s and 1930s was a tiny urban center, where the first 2-3 hotels were barely being built, and where foreigners were confused and blocking each other’s way, for a room where they could stretch out comfortably. Ani, the logic of local merchants was looking for a different field to win, completely different from the traditional ones. The field has been discovered. The cult of cinema has taken over Europe. What about us?
The merchants, who had abandoned their taki and tacha and caravan trade, and now, wore shiny shoes with knee-high socks, rushed to the reels of film, which they bought here and there in the Balkans and across the sea. In 1917, an Austrian test proved successful. The miracle of the film had amazed the citizens-peasants of Tirana, who still smelled of smoke. They had real halals at the end of the yard, but the miracle of the world was before their eyes. Some were shaking their heads, others were lost. But in front of the film screen they were just children.
The children themselves ate choka when someone appeared slightly naked on the big screen. At the “Orient” flower garden, in the “Fortuzi” neighborhood, the old people can still remember how people gathered in a hurry. Only three years later, a little further away in the “Central” Cafe, the owner Spasso Çepunjo, opened another place where they could watch films and in 1926, another cinema came to life. Dhimitër Voilla’s “Iliria” began screening right in the hotel’s garden. The Austrian Rudolf Pentz thought of modifying the environment of his cafe. At “Orient” films were shown that came from the Austrian metropolis. A secret competition was going on between the owners, who linked emancipation with their cinema halls.
Tirana, thus, was really feeling the joy of being the capital. This was the time when one of the best architects of the city, Skënder Luarasi, was given his first commission. He built the “National”, for the Beshiri brothers, which years later the Italians would adapt after the fire into the “Rex” Cinema. The cinema will breathe life into the building in our days, with the legendary name: “17 Nëntori”. The cinema not only fulfilled the requirements of the commissioners, but also became a connecting point in the city. Couples’ weddings were held there and the first aesthetic feelings of the local population were processed there. The most regular visitors remained the young people and especially those returning from abroad.
The owners decided to feed their interests with selected films as well. Among them, a well-known figure who passed away a few years ago, historian Kristo Frashëri, claims that the “Gloria” Cinema, 500 meters away from the “National”, was a model of emancipation for the 1930s and 1940s. Well-known characters of the time were now alive thanks to the film for the Albanian public, which was emerging rapidly from the deep Ottoman sleep. The situation is a bit grotesque, because the translation is done with sound. During the holidays, when the reels are changed, there is usually a crowd, but the owners introduce other shows for the first time, while not infrequently instead of the cinema, theater is given.
Yes, theater. This is best understood, in 1934, by Dhimitër Canco, a pleasant intellectual, who is not just an ordinary owner of the “Gloria”. He knows how to choose films that attract the youth of the capital. Canco bought the cinema when it was called “Diana” and now keeps his “Gloria” until 1947, when the nationalization of cinemas takes place, according to the law of April 16, 1947. At “Gloria” Kadri Roshi, the well-known post-war actor, who is a bit reserved, will work as a ticket seller. This is where his love for film, which he follows every night, is inherited by his later colleague Naim Frashëri.
The latter, when he returns home, puts every impression on paper. And while some go simply to watch films, another part of the spectators attend the theater and the performances that are held in these places. Tefta Tashko Koço “…on June 8, 1938, together with Marie Krajë, gave a concert at the ‘Gloria’ cinema in Tirana, accompanied by the Shkodra brass band, led by Preng Jakova, where the young man from Boboshtica in Korça, Kristaq Koço, newly arrived from Romania, sang with them…”, – write the chronicles of the time.
Chronicle, without stopping
Fortunately, history is now written by the passionate. One such person, Spiro Vasil Mëhilli, will write a little earlier in a scrupulous manner in his book “Tirana, 1920-1944” an entire chronology of the city’s cinemas. Let’s digress a little from it: “The ‘National’ Cinema-Theater opened on June 22, 1926. The owners were Xhuf Koliaka, the Hobdari family and Ferid Vokopola. In 1930, it became the property of the Beshiri Family. In 1939 it burned down and was rebuilt from the ground up. In July 1940 it received a new name: ‘REX’ Cinema-Theater”.
It was nationalized in 1947. The “IDEAL” Cinema-Theater in 1922-47, owned by Ali Sheqer. Summer cinema “Ideal” on June 28, 1934. Cinema “Popullore” on August 23, 1930. Cinema “Diana” on August 1, 1931 with owners Muharrem Qosje, Gavril Lasku and F. Krajë. Summer cinema “Imperiale”, which was built in 1939 and owned by the Qosje family. Cinema-theater “Rozafat”, which was built in 1931 and served until nationalization in 1947, when the owner was Murat Kamani. It was taken into use by Jusuf Beshiri. Kino-Lulishte “Skënderbeu”, which was founded in 1934, with owner Ali Sheqeri.
Cinema “Haverik”, which had owner Fadil Haverik. Later it was called “Punëtori” and subsequently “Estrada e Shtetit”. Cinema “Dopo lavoro”; Cinema-Theater “Savoia” 1940-1943. Until 1944, it was “Kosova” with director Koço Janku. Club “Dante Alighieri”. Cinema “Skënderbej”, with owner Z. Shpuza; Cinema-Theater “Tomori” year 1942 with director Koço Janku; Cinema “Paris”, which functioned from 1944-1947. Summer Cinema “Donika”, which served from 1942-1947. The owners were Jani Opari, Xhuf Opari and the Italian Vincenza Bova. Summer Cinema “Impero”, which was founded on April 26, 1943.
Not only that…!
But all of these would not serve simply as places where films were screened, since from 1926, they “exceeded” their attribute. In them we will have the performance of small pieces of a few minutes, to move on to dramas, comedies and tragedies by local and foreign authors. In the chronicle that we have again from Mr. Mëhilli, we have recorded the first performance on July 24, 1927, when the play entitled “Qëndrim në dashuri” (Staying in Love) by the author Muhsin Serezi was given at the Cinema-Theater “Nacional”. In addition to him, in the various halls we will have pieces by Kristo Floqi (writer and lawyer), Foqion Postoli, etc. Some districts have their own parts and troupes.
On October 28, 1930, the Rome theater group “Quirino” performed “The Barber of Seville”, under the interpretation of Diana Fiumana, Jole Rizzuto. On December 26, 1930, under the patronage of Princess Ruhije Zogu, the philodrama group “ORFE” of the royal band performed “The Flower of Remembrance” by Foqion Postoli. On March 19, 1933, the premiere of the vaudeville “Pata” was given at the “Diana” cinema, translated by Cuk Simoni, staged by Henrik Lacaj.
In 1933, Lola Aleksi and Kristaq Antoniu gave a concert. Dhimitër Canco went even further, when he created the humor group in 1934, with Mihal Popi, Matish Prendushi, etc. We have a part of Et’hem Haxhiademi, also recorded in the chronicles…! On May 17, 1935, Mihal Ciko, who had just arrived from Italy, performed. On November 15, 1942, a symphonic concert was given by the “Dante Alighieri” Association, and so on. Tirana was filled with performances, as if it were the Tirana of the 21st century.
Italy had big plans for its new colony and on September 30, 1942, at the behest of Benito Mussolini, the “Tomorri-Film” company was created in Albania. At its head, Franco Taglarini, who had the Albanian Mihallaq Mone as his advisor, had big ideas. The latter made some interesting documentaries for the time. “Meeting in the Lake”, “The Olive Trees of Vlorë”, “The Mine of Selenica”, “Blood in Karaburun”, “Marriage in Nartë”, were successful, but also raised hopes. Albanians attempted the first feature-length film “Bija e Bajraktarit”. The script was to be directed by Medin Kamber Bego, but he withdrew and Ernest Koliqi finished it. The director was to be the Italian Aldo Vergano.
There was no more time for plans. The Great War had begun. The film sequences were interrupted by documentaries of fascist successes. Ironically, the golden days of our city’s cinemas were over. But something was wrong. Right at “Nacional”, the communists found the opportunity to make their first propaganda, throwing communist tracts in the middle of the film. It seems that they had given it their baptism, because some of the most terrible trials against their opponents were held here. The voices of the communist prosecutors of the post-war period are still in the ears of the old residents today. The cinema that had had so many shows, humor, and theater and of course films was turned into a courthouse.
And what courthouse? Not too far back in time, the voice of a prosecutor echoed. It is the voice of Bedri Spahiu. Before him, comrades-in-arms, intellectuals, but also opponents stand in awe. The “Tomori” Cinema (today the Socialist Party building) still trembles with the accusations leveled against Admiral Teme Sejko. The Italians who used it for their own entertainment and later for the Tirana people, did not know what a mess they had left behind, without knowing it. The Partisans would have fun in the place they would call the “Brigada” Cinema, in 1945, but which also served as the city cinema, during the years 1947-1970.
But the worst fate befell the “17 Nëntori” Cinema, which continued until the mid-1990s. It turned into Bingo and is now in ruins. The same fate befell “Gloria”, which most of us reached under the name “Republika” and then “Millenium 1”. An amount of 400 thousand US dollars, approved by the Minister of Culture, was taken for its reconstruction, but it was demolished to make way for the building, which is still unfinished.
The others…!
An alley further on is still the “Dajti” Cinema, today returned to the center for the Municipality, but not a cinema. It was the seventh built during the communist era. It used to be the Chinese cinema, since they had their canteen nearby and the apartments where they lived. The “Ali Demi” Cinema, which has been demolished and is today razed to the ground, is the symbol of the erasure of this culture.
Right across from Lana is the “Agimi” cinema, the former Soviet cinema, once the main entertainment in the neighborhood of Soviet specialists. But what would truly become the elite cinema would be the “Partizani” Cinema. Today, I am saddened that their facade disappeared and today I find it hidden behind a door. The last cinema built in 1957 burned down in 1988. It was once turned into a restaurant for a Macedonian company, and then into “Bingo”, and now it no longer exists.
In 2002-2003, on the site of the “17 Nëntori” cinema, construction began on a shopping mall, which added another symbol to the city’s memory. The rumored attempt to recreate the former facade of the cinema came to naught. My city today has few cinemas, much less than before World War II, because no one wants them anymore.
Tirana has violently erased its memory of cinemas. That’s why you want to laugh when you hear the officials’ rants about the city’s heritage. All that’s left to say is: “Open your eyes”, you who took away from our city, the beautiful memory, the former dreams, everything. Our paradise of film…! Maybe, someone will punish. In a dream, in memory! Maybe?! Memorie.al
