The influence of cinema in Albanian-speaking territories: from its beginnins to her children, the unrecognized first Albanian film
The influence of cinema in Albanian-speaking territories: from its beginnins to her children, the unrecognized first Albanian film

Summary/Abstract: “Her Children” – The First Albanian Short Film, but Not Recognized as the First Albanian Film. The impact of cinema on Albanian-speaking territories, and later on Albanian society, from 1897 to the release of the first Albanian short film, “Her Children” (1957), which is recognized as the first Albanian short film but not as the first Albanian film. Cinema and its profound influence on a society with a deeply oriental mentality, its role in transforming this society—rooted in an imperial past—towards embracing a Western vision and practices. This shift was a natural movement for Albanians, from the declaration of independence to the early stages of industrial capitalism in the late 1930s. Albanians became victims of visual propaganda, shaped by social-political and his torical conditions, and influenced by the optimistic imagery coming from the former socialist bloc and the implementation in Albania’s own cinematography. The education of the first Albanian filmmakers, who documented the reality of a specific period, reflected both the need and the desire to consolidate cinema as an art form—not just as a political tool, but as a social necessity. However, the propagandistic misalignment with the censorship mechanism of the time marked the final moment of artistic freedom and the beginning of a state-controlled, one-party artistic expression.

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