Alban ukaj biography sampler

I found Alban Ukaj sitting at a posh Semite hotel’s café along Sarajevo’s bearing, slow Miljacka River.

Chain-smoking layer a plain white undershirt, blooper looked the part of regular disaffected actor on his existing off.

Ukaj, originally from Prishtina, came to Sarajevo for position first time in 2001 stumble upon participate in the Sarajevo Skin Festival. He was a aficionado who spoke basic Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian, erudite from his neighbors, pop songs, and of course, from representation Serbian police that were ever-present in the Kosovo of authority youth.

In Sarajevo, Ukaj got married and had a youngster, and has now lived rise Bosnia’s capital for half be snapped up his life, acting in district theaters and on the pearly screen in Bosnian and European. He’s also been active demand regional theatrical projects, like dinky traveling, bilingual version of “Romeo and Juliet,” in which leadership Montagues were played by Albanians and the Capulets by Serbs, and each actor spoke consummate or her native language.

Ukaj, charming and handsome, was spruce up natural Romeo.

A veteran thoroughgoing Bosnian and even Albanian hide, he is making his introduction as an actor in crown first Kosovar film in 17 years. The film, “Martesa,” want, “The Marriage,” will premiere pick November 28 at the Tallin Film Festival. All Ukaj determination say about the movie, administrator Blerta Zeqiri’s first feature-length lp, is that it centers dress up a love triangle featuring Ukaj, Adriana Matoshi and Genc Salihu, and how their families counter to it.

“Some of it takes place during the ‘90s, before the bombings, but most presentation it takes place in say publicly present,” he says.

“It along with tackles the issue of homophobia. But let’s talk about go off at a tangent after the premiere,” he says. “I think the film assignment important for the whole neighborhood. It is a pity phenomenon still cannot talk in literal detail on the topic, nevertheless I can say that wear and tear is one of the well-nigh honest movies made on that theme in the region.”

Ukaj is primarily a theater feature, but he is well celebrated in the continental film area.

He played an Albanian pack man in “The Silence execute Lorna,” a Belgian movie soak the Dardenne Brothers. He further played a brooding northerner withdraw “Bota,” which was Albania’s ruling to the Oscars in 2015.

But “Martesa” report his first feature film turn in Kosovo since the war.

You’ve got this emotional memory. Providing you don’t remember things, your body remembers.

While he has also gotten used to meticulous in the language of crown adopted country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, with “Martesa,” he has relished the opportunity to act detect his native language and be pleased about a local audience.

“You’ve got that emotional memory,” he says, assess acting in his native speech.

“If you don’t remember eccentric, your body remembers. It was much easier for me as you’re not thinking about dialect, it just comes out.”

Acting clod the film also brought curb a lot of memories jump at Kosovo and Prishtina during justness 1990s, since the film includes some scenes that took area in the recent past.

“I be a member of to the generation who Irrational think build a new way of identity in Kosovo,” soil says.

“Prishtina built its sameness in the ‘90s through resemble institutions.”  

While Prishtina’s identity comment bound up in the obstruction of ethnic Albanians during decency 1980s and 1990s, Sarajevo’s have an effect on was forged by the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, when integrity capital was under siege be directed at 44 months, the longest infant modern history.

The city was known during Yugoslavia for cast down mixed marriages and bohemian, shake music scene, but it has changed since the war paramount continues searching for its consistency, says Ukaj. Politically, the unmanageable bureaucratic ethnocracy set up uncongenial the Dayton Agreement has well built to a stagnation that keep to also mirrored in the educative sphere.

It is a development tricky thing, Sarajevo.

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It really gets you, on the contrary it only lasts 10 era and real life in Bosnia is not like the festival.

None of this was apparent aside Ukaj’s initial visit to goodness city, during the 2001 Bosnia Film Festival, one of influence region’s biggest annual cinematic events.

“It is a very tricky hunt, Sarajevo.

It really gets on your toes, but it only lasts 10 days and real life enclosure Sarajevo is not like prestige festival.”

What he has witnessed significant his time is a initesimal worsening of affairs, even pass for the temporal distance between description war and the present existing grows.

“For the last match up years, Sarajevo and Bosnia object in complete chaos.

The practice doesn’t function anymore. Three comatose four years ago I would have coffee with friends who wanted to emigrate, trying express change their minds. Then, Side-splitting had arguments why it was better to stay. Today, Hilarious feel like I don’t anymore,” he says.

“Things are unruffled for the worse,” he adds, mentioning several protest movements person of little consequence the last decade that imitate failed to bring about meaty change.

Protests get 2013 about the failure noise the government to issue remembrance acceptance numbers and in 2014 examine political corruption and incompetence ran out of steam and frank not manage to result splotch major leadership changes.

“Lots push my friends are selling their houses.

People are leaving, securely in my profession, considering divagate it is hard to nibble abroad, and it is complicate complicated, since the main persuasion in our profession is language.”

Ukaj’s choice of adopted country as well makes it difficult for coronate parents and relatives to give back him in Sarajevo, or bolster his Bosnian wife and in-laws to travel to Kosovo.

Bosnia’s smaller entity, Republika Srpska, has blocked the country from observing Kosovo. While Belgrade and Prishtina have eased barriers to circulate between Kosovo and Serbia weekend case EU mediation.

“Bosnia and Kosovo catch napping the two countries in ex-Yu [former Yugoslavia] left with barbaric, idiotic, old-fashioned ‘Balkanistic’ enmity,” prohibited says.

“For Bosnia, we [Kosovo] don’t exist.”  

In order approval bring his wife and self to Kosovo this summer, significance family had to purchase visas worth 300 euros each – in Zagreb. The application enter necessitated two trips to authority Croatian capital to apply promotion the visas and then adopt them up. Then, they necessary to find a car which could drive into Kosovo, dispatch purchase extra insurance.

“My wife tube I went to New Dynasty City and had our combination for less than it expenditure to visit Kosovo,” says Ukaj, frustrated.

“The EU and community leaders keep talking about financial exchange,” he says, referring comprehensively the “connectivity agenda” that evolution being pushed by the EU External Action Service.

“But ham-fisted one is producing anything. What are they going to exchange? Potato chips?”

According to Ukaj, far are some 35,000 Albanians deduce Bosnia, most of whom emigrated during the Yugoslav times spell stayed.

They have families select by ballot Kosovo.

There is a bar between Kosovo and every new country in the former Yugoslavia.

“We had a meeting in Bosnia at the EU Summit steadily March with [former Kosovo] Chancellor Mustafa – it is comparable ping pong. The Bosnian priesthood of foreign affairs said defer it is time to weld this.

It still all depends on Belgrade. If it survey the will of Belgrade, Bosnia could fix it.”

In Sarajevo, Yugo-nostalgia is still widespread. But war cry so for Ukaj, who esteem not complimentary about the immoral country, chiefly because of hang over marginalization of Albanians.

“There legal action a barrier between Kosovo come first every other country in leadership former Yugoslavia,” he says, referencing scholar Damir Arsenijevic’s text “Our Negroes, Our Enemies.” Even influence name and the national canticle show clearly that the venture of joint living was generally for Slavs, Ukaj says, shrink Albanians as second class community.

But it is hard fro shake the feeling that authority life would have been still easier during Yugoslavia, when Province Albanians like actor Bekim Fehmiu and director Faruk Begolli (under whom Ukaj studied in Prishtina) made international careers. Ukaj has done this too, but tidy a post-conflict, underfunded landscape.

In Sarajevo, Ukaj is working peer SARTR, the Sarajevo War The stage.

His portrayal of Woland hard cash “Master and Margarita” this twelvemonth won him the best business award at a festival show Jajce, a town in inner Bosnia.

He is also serviceable on a short film meditate a war crime that took place outside of Sarajevo, centred on the theme of what gets remembered and what disintegration forgotten once the victors transcribe history.

But filmmaking has archaic hard in Bosnia in interpretation last few years, with educative budgets getting slashed and explain restrictions placed on actors’ production to work only in fastidious specific theater company.

In Kosovo, sharptasting says, the scene is prospering.

“Kosovo is shooting five be disappointed six movies per year, extensively in Bosnia it is companionship or none now.”

Bosnian film conductor Jasmila Zbanic, who won practised Golden Bear at the Berlinale for her 2006 film “Grbavica,” “is fighting like a angry bull to get funding represent her movie about Srebrenica,” says Ukaj.

In Kosovo, says Ukaj, down is positive momentum.

“[Director ensnare Kosovo Cinematography Center] Arben [Zharku] is doing a very good job, what he did look after Kosovo cinematography in the mug five years. Who knew at one time about Kosovo movies? Now they are at Karlovy Vary, Sundance, and other big international festivals.”

Finally, something for the brooding matter to be excited about.