08/08/2023

Is there a limit on the creation? How far can the creative process go and how much impact does it have on the surrounding environment? Can a filmmaker push the limits set by politics, and can he influence the latter?
These and other issues were discussed this Monday afternoon in the third session of DokuTalks. Under the moderation of Dea Gjinovci, the panel included Mateo Ybarra, Flaka Kokolli, Diana Malaj and Kate Stonehill. The highlight of this DokuTalk panel lay in the specificity of the present decile and the way each found to influence society in a politically driven way.

For filmmaker Kate Stonehill, whose film premiered just hours before DokuTalk, the initial clue to create "Phantom Parrot" came after she herself had been given some transcripts of wiretapped conversations, and she couldn't get hold of her place anymore. The film deals with the story of a human rights activist, at war with Islamophobia, which this time seems to be disguised as the fight against terrorism. The main character of the film is violently intercepted by the American and British states for no reason at all.
Touching such a delicate subject in a time like the one in which we live for the cinematographer was not at all easy, but the sphinxes seem to be for the artists more than for anyone else.

While Mateo Ybarra shared the same attitude, making a parallel with his film "Visions du Réel" in which he tells his personal story, using materials that other people have posted on the Internet.

Pushing social barriers seems to have been a mission for the filmmaker and animator Flaka Kokolli, who built an animation academy all by herself to complete what the state in which she and young people like her live had not yet been able to do.

A very interesting point of this DokuTalk was the discussion of ATA activist Diana Malaj, who passionately told a little about the establishment of the group of activists in a city like Kamza, with the aim of recovery and creating an identity for the country where they and other Albanian citizens live.

From the whole discussion, it seemed like it was quite easy to change contexts and push the barriers set by others, even by politics, when you have the will to make the world you live in a better place. What prevents you? The sky is the limit!

By: Ana Haxhimali

Photo: Agon Dana