FLASH NEWS
Died at the age of 86, Piro Milkani's last story: How I filmed the last meeting between Dritëroi and Kadare. I tell you the jealousy of filmmakers for his scripts
2025-05-24 22:39:57 / JETË
The passing of director Piro Malkani saddened the Albanian art world today. Piro Malkani passed away this Saturday at the age of 86.
But what did the director say about the film he wanted to make with Dritëro Agolli?
In an article published by Panorama newspaper in 2020, Piro Malkani revealed that he had always wanted to make a film with Dritëro Agolli.
But, apparently, Dritëro Agolli had found himself in Viktor Gjika and this duo remained so, until the collapse of Kinostudio. But Piro Milkani had a fortune that Viktor Gjika did not have: to make documentaries about the lives of the two great writers, Ismail Kadare and Dritëro Agolli, and even to record their last meeting.
In the memoir "This is my Dritëroi", published by the publishing house "Dritëro", filmmaker Piro Milkani tells about Dritëroi's place in Albanian cinematography, about his adoration all the way to distant China and that golden moment when he had to make a film about the writer's life, or about conversations with him and his beloved Sadija.
I don't remember when I first read Dritëroi's poetry, but I can say that when I returned from studying abroad, he had a consolidated name as a poet and journalist with a unique style in Albanian journalism. It was these writings that caught the attention of Endri Keko to collaborate with him on an endless number of documentary films.
On the foundations of the Albanian literary edifice, the hierarchy of values raised three supporting pillars and they were: Dritëroi, Kadareja and Fatos Arapi. What united them was their uniqueness in the way they treated the themes and in their personal optics of interpreting events. It was precisely this variety of styles that made them more enjoyable. I hesitate to speak at length, because other art scholars have analyzed them, but I will deal with Dritëroi's work in the field of film. I became "jealous" of Viktor Gjika, when he kidnapped Dritëroi from me and they made their first film together, "Open Horizons".
An unwritten contract bound them forever. It would never have occurred to you to take Dritëroi away from Viktor. Thus, after every successful novel, a film with the signature of Dritëroi and Viktor would follow. It is enough to remember the films “The Eighth in Bronze” or “The Man with the Top” and you have said it all. When I reflect on the achievements and values of Albanian cinema in writings, speeches, in filmmaker forums or lectures with students of the Marubi Film Academy, I am strongly reminded of the answer to the question, whether Albanian cinema was or is a provincial cinema or a national value.
E në mbrojtje të së dytës, shtoj se nuk mund të jetë e pavlerë një industri kinematografike, ku ndërhynë penat e fuqishme të shkrimtarëve të shquar si: Dritëroi, Kadareja, Laço, Koreshi, Pulaha, Blushi e të tjerë. Dritëroi nuk ka fare nevojë për mbiemrin Agolli, ashtu si Kadaresë nuk i nevojitet emri. Të dy gjigantë të letrave shqipe. Kaluan vite të tëra dhe shpresa ime për një bashkëpunim me Dritëroin u shua. Por dora e Zotit më ndihmoi edhe mua.
Një ofertë e “Top Channel”-it në vitin 2009 më angazhoi për të realizuar një dokumentar të gjatë për Kadarenë. Punova në të ngadalë e ngadalë. Dhe erdhi një moment kur diçka nuk më shkonte. Ia thashë haptas Kadaresë: “Nuk më del filmi mirë, nëse në të nuk është edhe një takim me Dritëroin. U tha, u bë! Një mëngjes vjeshte të lagësht e të ftohtë i ngjita shkallët për në shtëpinë e Dritëroit.
Së bashku me Sadijen ishin bërë gati. Edhe pse e kishte rralluar shumë, atë mëngjes e kishte rrëkëllyer një gotë raki dhe më detyroi dhe mua ta pi një gotë. Në ato momente kujtova sesa njerëz, të njohur e të panjohur, kishin hyrë në atë shtëpi bujare. Ndërkohë, Eno Milkani (bashkëregjisori) dhe Erion Muharremi (kameramani) ndodheshin te “Juvenilja”, së bashku me Kadarenë dhe Bujar Hudhrin.
Porosinë e kishin marrë që në darkë: “Kur të vijë Dritëroi, të shtypet butoni i kamerës dhe të mos ndërpritet fare”. Dhe ashtu u bë. Po për dreq ndodhi ajo që nuk e prisja. Një zile bezdisëse telefoni. Shyqyr që nuk kisha në dorë kamerën. U largova që të mos ndërpritej xhirimi dhe fola me zë të ulët. Ishte Kel Joti, drejtor i “Top Channel”.
– Të lutem mos e zgjat se po filmojmë Dritëroin me Kadarenë. E mbylli pa një pa dy. Po ndiqja bisedat e këndshme të dy ish-nxënësve të gjimnazit të Gjirokastrës. Dhe prapë ai dreq telefoni. Pikë e zezë!
Përsëri Keli: -Dëgjo këtu! E ke ekskluziv këtë xhirim, se mos është dikush tjetër?
– Jo, jo, vetëm ne jemi.
– Të lumtë. Po dëgjo këtu. Sa të mbarosh me Kadarenë, mendo për një dokumentar për Dritëroin.
E mbylla, e mbylla dhe më fal.
Më shkoi në mendje kënga “Dy gëzime në një ditë”. Falë kësaj bisede ndërroi dhe montimi i filmit të Kadaresë. I vumë vetëm pak fragmente këtij takimi të bukur dhe e ruajtëm pjesën më të madhe për filmin e ardhshëm.
Duke besuar në gënjeshtrën time të bardhë, Dritëroi dhe Sadija u përshëndetën me të, duke i uruar rrugë të mbarë. Pastaj Dritëroi më propozoi të hynim në ambientet e restorantit.
Ishte ditë e ftohtë, me shumë lagështi.
– Hajde ta rrëkëllejmë dhe nga një gotë tjetër, – më tha.
Disa tavolina më tej dalloj Mendu Thaçin, kryetarin e PDSH në Maqedoni. Pak çaste më vonë, ai ngrihet dhe e takon përzemërsisht Dritëroin dhe Sadijen.
– Po ky ka deklaruar botërisht se sa të jetë gjallë, nuk ka për t’i dhënë dorën asnjë komunisti. E ç’po na shohin sytë këto kohë..!, – tha me të qeshur Dritëroi.
The film inevitably made me spend more time with Dritëroi and Sadija. I looked carefully at the giant library of the house, where there was no shortage of books by young and little-known authors, whose work Dritëroi had encouraged or reviewed. And on one of those visits, he gave me the book “The Rise and Fall of Comrade Zylo”.
I knew the book very well, but this time I had it with a dedication from the author himself. Among other things, he also wrote these words: "To Pirros, my filmmaker friend, I gladly dedicate it to him because this 'son of a dog' has made very good films." Thanks to this film, I also physically met Rexhep Qose.
He had been mulling over in his mind what he would say about Dritëroi, giving him the highest praise, when he said that Dritëroi could be considered the last of the Albanian renascentists. Thanks to the film I was shooting, I went to Korça to record the ceremony of awarding the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the Università Fan S. Noli.
In the spare conversation, as only he knew how to do, he indicated that after death he would return to this world as a butterfly or a bird.
Like Naimi, Dritëroi was a convinced pantheist. By nature, I think we were both the same: “pathological optimists.”
We have waited for every unexpected illness with stoicism and with faith that we will overcome it this time too. And indeed, he avoided death several times, thanks to Sadija's care. During the years 1964-1977, in the years of "friendship" with Mao's China, the Chinese received over 20 Albanian films. After dubbing them in Chinese, they were distributed throughout the vast territories of the most populous country in the world.
And among them, three films also had Dritëroi's signature. They were "Open Horizons", "The Eighth in Bronze" and "The Man with the Cannon". The many Albanians who visited China told us that the Chinese were fond of humorously imitating the famous jokes that Dritëroi's characters made. Therefore, I think that "The Rise and Fall of Comrade Zylo", a work comparable to Hasek's "The Good Soldier Schweik" or Cervantes' Don Quixote, for the universal messages it conveys, will be received as well as his films.
I have no choice but to repeat what I said on the day of his funeral: "If one day a Pantheon were to be built in the hills of Tirana, Dritëroi would occupy a place among the most important."
Thank you, Dritëro, for enlightening the rest of us, for giving us the heart and courage to write better and more beautifully thanks to you. May the one who gave you this name full of light always be a light!
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