Besim Sahatçiu
Directing
Biography
Besim Sahatçiu was a Kosovo-Albanian director of theatre and film. After finishing gymnasium in Pejë, Sahatçiu studied literature at the University of Belgrade. Following the interruption of his studies due to compulsory military service, he worked as a translator for the publisher, Rilindja. He later studied at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, Croatia, and defended his thesis with staging Gogol's satirical play, The Government Inspector, at People's Provincial Theatre in Pristina. Sahatçiu's ethnographic film, 117, won the Grand Prix at the Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival in 1978. The film was described as a “spiritual portrait of the nation.” As a theatre director, Sahatçiu worked at the National Theatre of Kosovo in Pristina. In 2018, Kosovo's Ministry of Culture posthumously honored Sahatçiu with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Cinematography. The same year, a street in Pristina was named after him. In 2021, Posta e Kosovës issued postage stamps in its 'Arti skenik – Besim Sahatçiu dhe Leze Qena' series, commemorating Sahatçiu and Leze Qena.
Known For
In a mining plant in Kosovo, as occurs in many work organizations across the country, workers continue to win new positions in the self-management. The former miner and fighter - now general manager of the factory - is on the side of the workers, but has troubles in personal life.
The Swelling River
The story follows the Kosovar partisan hero known as Lisi (Oak), from WWII days, subsequent liberation, until mid-1960s. Lisi was a brave warrior, yet he and his generation remains largely uneducated. However his nephew starts as a courier, and becomes doctor afterwards.
The Oak and the Tree
A small village during World War II. Due to deep poverty, some villagers engage in trade of goods, contraband, across the mountain border. A great gap opens between the villagers and those fighting the enemy.
Three People Overpass the Mountain
Shot in the Kosovar village of Nevokaze, it depicts the traditional lifestyle of an Albanian family numbering 117 members, all living under one roof and in great harmony. One of the finest examples of ethnographic film to come from this region, it has been called a ‘spiritual portrait of the nation’.
117
It documents a traditional event that took place on St. George’s Day in Dragash, Kosovo.