Albanian director and researcher Ilir Yzeiri has won the Best Documentary Director award at the Venice International Film Festival. He received the award for his documentary “Lucia Nadin and Albanians in Venice 1474–1552”.
The documentary previously earned selection by the Veneto Region for the festival’s 83rd edition. Italian company Cinemaset, based in Rome, acquired the film and plans to present it on several international platforms in October. The award marks one of the first occasions when a documentary by an Albanian creator has reached these international platforms.
Meanwhile, Albanian producer Emiliano Biraku also participated at the Venice festival. A film he produced won the first prize for best documentary.
Yzeiri made the documentary in 2024 with support from the Albanian government and special interest from Prime Minister Edi Rama. The film chronologically traces the experience of Albanians after the fall of Shkodër (1469). It draws on the work and accounts of Lucia Nadin and follows figures such as old Albanian literature authors Marin Barleti and Beçikemi.
The documentary also presents the wooden sculptures of Kamsi, whom the film describes as one of the major wood sculptors of the Venetian Middle Ages. Nadin recounts her discovery of the “Statutes of Shkodër”. Filming in Venice explores the period when Albania formed part of a developed European environment and brings to light traces that remain difficult to see in Albania.
/a.p./
The post Albanian director Ilir Yzeiri wins documentary award in Venice appeared first on RTSH.
