Albanian writer, director and producer Gentian Koçi, of Artlab Film Productions, first made his name with the documentary Not a Carwash, which world-premiered at Hot Docs in 2012 and received critical acclaim. In 2017, his first feature film, Daybreak [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Gentian Koçi
scheda film], premiered at Sarajevo, won the Best Actress award for Ornela Kapetani, and went on to play in more than 50 festivals. It was Albania's Oscar submission, a success repeated by Koçi's next film, A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Gentian Koçi
scheda film], which world-premiered at Tallinn last year. Koçi has been selected as Albania’s representative in the European Film Promotion’s Producers on the Move programme. 

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Cineuropa: You have made both documentaries and fiction films; you always produce the films you direct, but you are also co-producing other directors' films. Is this just a result of Albanian and Balkan industry circumstances, or is it also your own choice? 
Gentian Koçi: Yes, it's true. I always keep a hand in documentaries, and I would really like to continue making them. However, I suppose you can see their influence on my two feature films in terms of style and in the way I try to convey a crude reality in an artistic form, without embellishing it. 

For me, being a producer comes quite naturally. In the film school where I studied, we had production classes. In the Balkans, Europe, and beyond, it is quite normal for directors to also be producers, because it gives them the opportunity to have artistic control over their work. Having said that, I also have unconditional help from my wife, Blerina Hankollari, with whom I share the producer credit. Blerina has been present in my works since their very first steps. We run Artalb Film Productions together, trying to bring to life the stories we love so much, even though in our region the financing of film projects is becoming more and more difficult due to insufficient funds. 

Our company is also open to co-productions, or film projects by other Albanian authors that have an international artistic potential, and convey artistic subtlety and honesty. This is very important for our company in the face of the rising commercialism we are increasingly sinking into each day.

Tell us about the projects you are currently working on.
I have slowly started working on the script of my next film, Cold Sun, which I will produce together with Blerina. It is a challenging, powerful, and provocative story. I really hope that this story will come true in four years. 

I am currently working on a short film, written and to be directed by a young and talented Albanian female director, and I am working on a co-production between Kosovo and Albania, with two other European countries soon joining the project. Also, after the online meetings with the other producers selected for Producers on the Move, we started discussing some very interesting projects, hoping to bring them to life together in the future.

How do you see the state of the Albanian film industry? 
Albania has a fairly limited film production budget. The Albanian National Centre of Cinematography is the only institution financing film productions; other institutions are not regular film funders. This makes the international financing of a film extremely difficult. While many talents have become acclaimed, others are still waiting to be discovered, which requires a larger budget and better filmmaking policies. I think our politicians have no interest in supporting the film industry. We have beautiful and diverse locations, warm and welcoming people, qualified professionals, experienced production companies, and competitive prices in the region. Interest in important foreign productions has already started, and I hope that it will grow in the future. 

What do you expect from Producers on the Move? 
I am happy to be selected and to represent Albania on this important platform. In addition to promotion, Producers on the Move will help me grow my co-production network. My colleagues have presented very interesting projects with international potential and I believe that the cooperation will be very fruitful.