Not a Carwash

Synopsis

Tirana, Albania. On the grounds where the country’s first film studio once lay, film director Kujtim Cashku has established a pioneering film school. It soon becomes a hub for the country’s artistic community - in a country notably lacking in cultural outlets. The trouble is, the land that the film school is on, is now being eyed up by the corporations beginning to invest in the former communist country. And the police, at the behest of the government, are only too eager to storm in and shut the film school down. We follow the action over four tense days as a press conference evolves into a full blown occupation, and the police advance with determination on outraged students and professors. On this small battleground, a very big question is being asked - just what role should the state have in nurturing - or destroying - a nation’s cultural heart?

Director Biography

Born in 1979 in Tirana, Albania. He graduated from the Academy of Film and Multimedia Marubi in 2009 with a degree in film and television directing. He has worked for nearly a decade as a news camera operator for TV Klan, a national television channel in Tirana. His short fiction and documentary films have participated in several national and international film festivals.