Divorce Albanian Style
This story of love and separation takes place in the surreal world of 1960s communist Albania. As told by survivors of this extraordinary period, Divorce Albanian Style reveals the experience of the many thousands of families that were forcibly separated by the totalitarian regime of Enver Hoxha, the longest-serving European dictator of the 20th century.
Near the height of his mania, in 1961 Enver Hoxha broke off Albania’s relations with the Soviet Union. Albanian men married to foreign women were forced by the state to split from their wives – women from all over Eastern Europe - who were subsequently expelled. The official reason was alleged espionage. Hojda quickly created a mechanism to deal with those who refused to leave. KGB-trained secret police collected “evidence”, minor clerks became “investigators”, carpenters were made into prosecutors and labor camps expanded.
The women who stayed – and their husbands - spent years in prisons, the last released in 1987. Divorce Albanian Style tells the stories of three of these couples, and of the apparatchiks and officers of the secret police who changed their lives forever.
Awards and Nominations
- Nomination of the European Film Academy
for “The Best Documentary 2007 - Prix Arte” - Special award of the Jury
National Non - Fiction Film Festival "Golden Rython" 2007 - Grand Prix “Golden Chest” for the Best Documentary
International TV Festival "Golden Chest" 2007 - “Best Bulgarian Documentary 2007” Award
of the Bulgarian National Film Centre - “Best Documentary 2006 - 2007” Award
of the Union of Bulgarian Film makers - SRG SSR Idée Suisse 2008
Prize of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation - Human Rights Award
XIV Sarajevo International Film festival 2008 - “Special Commendation” Award
Prix Europe 2008 - “Best Documentary” Award
SEE Film festival, Los Angeles - 2009 - Audience Award
SEE Film festival, Los Angeles - 2009 - Special Prize of the Jury
Documentary Film Festival CRONOGRAF - Republic of Moldova – 2010 - “The Golden Knight”
XIX Film Forum Moscow - 2010
Festivals Participations
- Apolonia Art Fest, Bulgaria - 2007
- International Film Festival “Astra”, Rumania - 2007
- International Film Festival “Kinomania”, Bulgaria - 2007
- “Golden Rithon” National Non-feature Film Festival, Bulgaria - 2007
- “Golden Chest” International TV Festival, Bulgaria - 2007
- IDFA Film Festival, The Netherlands - 2007
- 21st FIPA Film Festival - Biarritz, France - 2008
- Miami International Film Festival, USA - 2008
- Mumbai International Film Festival, India - 2008
- ONE WORLD International Human Rights Film Festival, Prague - 2008
- Thessaloniki International Film Festival TIDF ’08, Greece - 2008
- “Sofia Film Fest” International Film Festival, Bulgaria - 2008
- Bucharest Film Festival, Romania - 2008
- EURORAMA International Film Festival Trento, Italy - 2008
- Huesca International Film Festival, Spain - 2008
- Yerevan International Film Festival GOLDEN APRICOT - 2008
- International Film Festival of European co-production, Sofia - 2008
- Sarajevo International Film Festival - 2008
- Sardinia Ethnographic International Film Festival, Italy - 2008
- PRIX EUROPE 2008, Berlin, Germany - 2008
- Cinéma méditerranéen Montpellier, France - 2008
- DOCLISBOA International Film Festival - 2008
- 1001 Documentary Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey - 2008
- International Ethnographic Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 2008
- Eastern Neighbours Film Festival, Utrecht, The Netherlands - 2008
- European Festival of Cinema and TV MEMORIMAGE, Barcelona - 2009
- BELDOCS Documentary Film Festival, Belgrade - 2009
- SEE Film Festival, Los Angeles - 2009
- INPUT 2009 International TV Conference, Warsava - 2009
- Melbourn International Film festival - 2009
- Montreal Human Rights Film Festival - 2009
- Documentary Film Festival CRONOGRAF - Republic of Moldova - 2010
- "Golden Knight" International Film Festival - Russia - 2010