Slogans (2001)

Director:

Gjergj Xhuvani

Writers:

Ylljet Alicka (writer)
Yves Hanchar (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

31 October 2001 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Andre starts as a teacher in a remote mountain village in Albania. His first task is to choose one of two communist slogans...

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Festim Çela	...	Festim
Artur Gorishti	...	Andre
Birce Hasko	...	Sabaf
Niko Kanxheri	...	Selman
Robert Ndrenika	...	Llesh
Agim Qirjaqi	...	Directeur de l'ecole
Luiza Xhuvani	...	Diana

Directed by
Gjergj Xhuvani

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ylljet Alicka		writer
Yves Hanchar		writer
Gjergj Xhuvani		writer

Produced by
Raphael Berdugo	....	co-producer
Pascal Judelewicz	....	producer
Franck Landron	....	co-producer
Grigor Stavri	....	executive producer
Arben Tasellari	....	co-producer
Anne-Dominique Toussaint	....	producer
Arben Vehbiu	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Denis Barbier

Cinematography by
Gerald Thiaville

Film Editing by
Didier Ranz

Set Decoration by
Shaqir Veseli

Costume Design by
Durim Neziri

Makeup Department
Alexander Mircev Roshkov	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paskal Prifti	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Emmanuel Croset	....	sound mixer
Pierre-Yves Lavoué	....	sound
Sammy Nekib	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Eric-François Billiet	....	electrician
Zamir Kokonozi	....	assistant camera

Other crew
Stéphane Zito	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Albanian General Vision
• Les Films des Tournelles
• Les Films en Hiver
• Roissy Films

Distributors

• Les Films des Tournelles

Also Known As:

Synthimata (Greece) (festival title) [el]

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France | Albania

Language:

Albanian

Color:

Color

Certification:

France:U | Norway:A | Sweden:7

Filming Locations:

Albania

Company:

Albanian General Vision

Surprisingly good

Low budget movies need something to draw attention to them, lacking big stars and great effects. Slogans has those somethings in spades! We get to know an Albanian teacher arriving at a country school, around 1984. He seems to be a sympathetic guy.

The school seems to be less interested in teaching the children real subjects than pushing communist propaganda down their throats. Much of the week is spent on the hillsides, where the pupils whitewash stones and arrange them into huge letters with slogans like "Long live international Communism". The slogans can be seen from far off, thus securing that no citizen will be able to avoid them. Unruly teachers and classes are punished with very long sentences! Comic and tragic scenes are plentiful as the people struggle with the whims of the local communist party and the school principal's unrequited love for one of the female teachers.

Post-war Albanian history is terribly strange, weird and bizarre. Sandwiched between Christian and Moslem influences, this mountaineous country was isolated for a very long time, due to the paranoia of their leader, Enver Hoxha. Sensing enemies (revisionists) all around him, he closed the borders and nixed any international co-operation. This movie gives a fair account of what life must have been like in Albania at the time. It's well made, a bit on the long side, but still worthwhile for those who seek unusual films.