11 minutes of forbidden jazz that got people executed. No, seriously.
No one knows why for certain, but from 1968 to 1973 communist Albania enjoyed a brief liberalisation in the arts. Banned books and Beatles records changed hands. Albania’s Nobel-nominated novelist Ismail Kadare wrote two of his most famed masterpieces, Kështjella (The Castle) (1970) and Kronikë në gur (Chronicle in Stone) (1971) during this period. The rock'n'roll and jazz arrangements featured in this concert documentary were the pretext that brought about the end to the artistic thaw. Several performers seen in the festival were sent to prison or internal exile. The portly, smiling music conductor, Gasper Çurçia, was later accused of forging bus tickets and executed.
Direction
Muçi weaponizes archival footage into political indictment.
Editing
Juxtaposing smiling performers with their fates destroys you.
Director
Donika Muçi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This 'thaw' coincided with Kadare's masterpieces, making the festival a literary-cultural flashpoint.
Rock'n'roll and jazz were deemed 'decadent' enough to reverse liberalization—musical genres as political crime.
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