Biografi

God created the rocks to be cloven by lightning, God created the wood to rot due to rain and wind, God created the Albanians to endure all this. This is the motto of Biografi, uttered while from the sea the hazy contours of Albania appear. A mysterious country, that was completely isolated for a long time and was ruled with an iron communist fist. Where one third of the population worked for the Sigurimi (security police), where fourteen percent of the population was permanently in prison, and where private ownership of a car was banned until 1990. But ten years ago, the curtain came down for the communist reign of terror here, too. The almost casual and often humorist way in which five Albanians talk about their sometimes heartbreaking lives prevents this film from becoming the umpteenth sad account of a sorely tried people. On the contrary, the stories show the vitality that allows a man to rise to his feet and go on time after time. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)