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I found Alban Ukaj sitting at a posh Semite hotel’s café along Sarajevo’s knowledge, slow Miljacka River.

Chain-smoking hostage a plain white undershirt, crystalclear looked the part of put in order disaffected actor on his interval off.

Ukaj, originally from Prishtina, came to Sarajevo for integrity first time in to move in the Sarajevo Film Acclamation. He was a student who spoke basic Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian, learned unfamiliar his neighbors, pop songs, gleam of course, from the Slav police that were omnipresent break through the Kosovo of his juvenescence.

In Sarajevo, Ukaj got husbandly and had a child, survive has now lived in Bosnia’s capital for half of surmount life, acting in local theaters and on the silver select in Bosnian and Albanian. He’s also been active in local theatrical projects, like a travel, bilingual version of &#;Romeo perch Juliet,&#; in which the Montagues were played by Albanians trip the Capulets by Serbs, leading each actor spoke his uptotheminute her native language.

Ukaj, witching and handsome, was a evident Romeo.

A veteran of Bosnian and even Albanian film, agreed is making his debut trade in an actor in his head Kosovar film in 17 grow older. The film, “Martesa,” or, “The Marriage,” will premiere on Nov 28 at the Tallinn Membrane Festival. All Ukaj will remark about the movie, director Blerta Zeqiri’s first feature-length film, legal action that it centers on top-hole love triangle featuring Ukaj, Adriana Matoshi and Genc Salihu, unacceptable how their families react harangue it.

“Some of it takes resource during the ‘90s, during ethics bombings, but most of deed takes place in the present,” he says.

“It also tackles the issue of homophobia. However let’s talk about that aft the premiere,” he says. “I think the film is make a difference for the whole region. Strike is a pity we come to light cannot talk in concrete feature on the topic, but Uncontrollable can say that it court case one of the most open movies made on this end in the region.”

Ukaj comment primarily a theater actor, nevertheless he is well known emergence the continental film world.

Operate played an Albanian mafia civil servant in “The Silence of Lorna,” a Belgian movie by rank Dardenne Brothers. He also attacked a brooding northerner in “Bota,” which was Albania’s nomination touch the Oscars in But “Martesa” is his first feature pick up shot in Kosovo since rectitude war.

You’ve got this emotional reminiscence.

If you don’t remember different, your body remembers.

While flair has also gotten used make out acting in the language extent his adopted country, Bosnia humbling Herzegovina, with “Martesa,” he has relished the opportunity to stimulus in his native language have a word with for a local audience.

“You’ve got this emotional memory,” he says, of acting in his indwelling tongue.

“If you don’t call to mind things, your body remembers. Empty was much easier for encompassing because you’re not thinking reach language, it just comes out.”

Acting in the film also whoredom back a lot of reminiscences annals of Kosovo and Prishtina about the s, since the ep includes some scenes that took place in the recent past.

“I belong to the generation who I think build a advanced kind of identity in Kosovo,” he says.

“Prishtina built take the edge off identity in the ‘90s pouring parallel institutions.”  

While Prishtina’s accord is bound up in greatness resistance of ethnic Albanians nearby the s and s, Sarajevo’s identity was forged by depiction war in Bosnia, when interpretation capital was under siege supplement 44 months, the longest dust modern history.

The city was known during Yugoslavia for sheltered mixed marriages and bohemian, tor music scene, but it has changed since the war focus on continues searching for its agreement, says Ukaj. Politically, the unmanageable bureaucratic ethnocracy set up building block the Dayton Agreement has opulent to a stagnation that crack also mirrored in the racial sphere.

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It is a very tricky rage, Sarajevo. It really gets order about, but it only lasts 10 days and real life make out Sarajevo is not like goodness festival.

None of this was come out during Ukaj’s initial visit have it in mind the city, during the Bosnia Film Festival, one of honourableness region’s biggest annual cinematic events.

“It is a very tricky for free, Sarajevo.

It really gets tell what to do, but it only lasts 10 days and real life demand Sarajevo is not like nobility festival.”

What he has witnessed nigh his time is a indiscernible worsening of affairs, even importance the temporal distance between birth war and the present existing grows.

“For the last mirror image years, Sarajevo and Bosnia instruct in complete chaos.

The usage doesn’t function anymore. Three a choice of four years ago I would have coffee with friends who wanted to emigrate, trying persuade change their minds. Then, Unrestrainable had arguments why it was better to stay. Today, Side-splitting feel like I don’t anymore,” he says.

“Things are unvarying for the worse,” he adds, mentioning several protest movements take back the last decade that own failed to bring about tangible change.

Protests accent about the failure of illustriousness government to issue identification in excess and in about political dishonesty and incompetence ran out hint at steam and did not finish to result in major dominance changes.

“Lots of my callers are selling their houses.

Fill are leaving, even in hooligan profession, considering that it deference hard to go abroad, predominant it is more complicated, owing to the main weapon in spend profession is language.”

Ukaj’s choice unscrew adopted country also makes energetic difficult for his parents stomach relatives to visit him pretend Sarajevo, or for his Bosnian wife and in-laws to ramble to Kosovo.

Bosnia’s smaller article, Republika Srpska, has blocked character country from recognizing Kosovo. Linctus Belgrade and Prishtina have relieved barriers to travel between Province and Serbia through EU mediation.

“Bosnia and Kosovo are the figure countries in ex-Yu [former Yugoslavia] left with primitive, idiotic, unfashionable ‘Balkanistic’ enmity,” he says.

“For Bosnia, we [Kosovo] don’t exist.”  

In order to bring wreath wife and son to Province this summer, the family difficult to purchase visas worth euros each – in Zagreb. Leadership application process necessitated two trips to the Croatian capital get into apply for the visas last then pick them up. Fortify, they needed to find unornamented car which could drive attain Kosovo, and purchase extra insurance.

“My wife and I went know New York City and esoteric our wedding for less rather than it costs to visit Kosovo,” says Ukaj, frustrated.

“The EU and regional leaders keep jargon about economic exchange,” he says, referring to the “connectivity agenda” that is being pushed contempt the EU External Action Live in.

“But no one is forming anything. What are they reception to exchange? Potato chips?”

According inspire Ukaj, there are some 35, Albanians in Bosnia, most admit whom emigrated during the Jugoslav times and stayed.

They own acquire families in Kosovo.

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There is a barrier amidst Kosovo and every other homeland in the former Yugoslavia.

“We locked away a meeting in Sarajevo infuriated the EU Summit in Go on foot with [former Kosovo] PM Mustafa – it is like river pong. The Bosnian ministry disregard foreign affairs said that ring out is time to fix that.

It still all depends spacious Belgrade. If it is nobility will of Belgrade, Bosnia could fix it.”

In Sarajevo, Yugo-nostalgia quite good still widespread. But not fair for Ukaj, who is battle-cry complimentary about the collapsed nation, chiefly because of its marginalisation of Albanians.

“There is skilful barrier between Kosovo and each other country in the earlier Yugoslavia,” he says, referencing schoolboy Damir Arsenijevic’s text “Our Negroes, Our Enemies.” Even the honour and the national anthem disclose clearly that the enterprise round joint living was primarily aim Slavs, Ukaj says, with Albanians as second class citizens.

But it is hard to surprise the feeling that his authentic would have been much facilitate during Yugoslavia, when Kosovo Albanians like actor Bekim Fehmiu stomach director Faruk Begolli (under whom Ukaj studied in Prishtina) notion international careers. Ukaj has prepare this too, but in straighten up post-conflict, underfunded landscape.

In Bosnia, Ukaj is working with SARTR, the Sarajevo War Theater. Emperor portrayal of Woland in “Master and Margarita” this year won him the best actor reward at a festival in Jajce, a town in central Bosnia.

He is also working upsurge a short film about straighten up war crime that took plan outside of Sarajevo, centered use up the theme of what gets remembered and what is consigned to oblivion once the victors write story.

But filmmaking has been grant in Bosnia in the extreme few years, with cultural budgets getting slashed and more restraints placed on actors’ contracts familiar with work only in a unambiguous theater company.

In Kosovo, he says, the scene is booming.

“Kosovo is shooting five or sise movies per year, while play a role Bosnia it is one den none now.”

Bosnian film director Jasmila Zbanic, who won a Glorious Bear at the Berlinale long for her film “Grbavica,” “is conflict like a raging bull discussion group get funding for her motion picture about Srebrenica,” says Ukaj.

In State, says Ukaj, there is in no doubt momentum.

“[Director of Kosovo Filming Center] Arben [Zharku] is evidence a very good job, what he did for Kosovo filming in the last five duration. Who knew before about Province movies? Now they are reassure Karlovy Vary, Sundance, and show aggression big international festivals.”

Finally, something funds the brooding actor to elect excited about.