Albania: Victory in defeat How come a country on the fringes of Europe which has an economy in turmoil and produces only four films a year is conquering the festivals? THESSALONIKI FILM FESTIVAL Will the last person to leave the country please turn out all the lights Fatmir Koçi's Tirana Year Zero (2001) Tirana Year Zero, an appeal to Albanians not to leave their homeland, snatched the main prize at Thessaloniki this year. Andrew James Horton examines how the film beat its global rivals. INDUSTRY FOCUS How to make a film in a country that barely has a film industry The making of this year's Albanian hits The studios chronically need investment, the technical crew were trained on obsolete equipment and post-production facilities are way below international standards. Yet Albania makes award-winning films. Andrew James Horton explains how.

POLAND For God and country (or maybe not) Jerzy Kawalerowicz interviewed Kawalerowicz's reputation for creating popular films on an epic scale is currently being consolidated by the success of Quo vadis. Ray Privett talks to him about his career. POLAND The guilt on both sides Leszek Wosiewicz's Kornblumenblau (1988) Kornblumenblau, in contrast to many other films set in a concentration camp, is not specifically interested in the Holocaust. Monika Braid probes the film's universal themes.

HORROR Just another fashion victim Mario Bava's Sei donne per l'assassino (Blood and Black Lace, 1964) Sei donne per l'assassino anticipates the formal devices of later slasher films, but to Reynold Humphries its most remarkable aspect is its stance on sexual exploitation.

Copyright © Kinoeye 2001