A DOCUMENTARY BY YLLKA GJOLLESHA & SUELA BAKO LIGHT AR PRODUCTION / Director of Photography:Leander Ljarja Music by: Fatos Qerimaj Production:AR Production Ajola Daja Co-Production:Kinostudo Dardan/Grishaj Film ProductionLa Steua Film Studios/ As/Camera:Erald Deda/ Ermal Gjollesha/ Ervin Coba/ Editing: Eliodor Markja Artistic Director: Ardian Isufi/ Costumer: Ervin Berxolli/ With: Catalina Gubandru/ Dora Veshi/ Iris Sojli/ Flori Bako Jornalist:Lorina Pepo/ Consultant:John Loengard/ Elliott Erwitt/ Gezim Qendro LIGHT (Film DOCUMENTARY) 2017 Running time 53 min Directed By Yllka Gjollesha / Suela Bako Written By Yllka Gjollesha / Suela Bako Produced By AR Production Yllka Gjollesha Production Company AR Production Cinematographer Leander Ljarja Edited by Elidor Markja Journalist Lorina Pepo Composer Fatos Qerimaj Artistic Director Ardian Isufi Short Synopsis (60 WORDS) The “ LIGHT” film documentary deals with the life and work of well known Albanian photographer Gjon Mili, his beginnings as an immigrant in America, the application of innovation and pioneering techniques in photography, his journey through his photos with the famous people to Stop-Action Photograph of ‘Drop of Water’ as it Falls and Finally Splashes… the essence of life. Full Synopsis (108 WORDS) The “ LIGHT” film documentary deals with the life and work of well known Albanian photographer Gjon Mili, his beginnings as an immi- grant in America, the application of innovation and pioneering techniques in photography, his journey through his photos with the famous people to Stop-Action Photograph of ‘Drop of Water’ as it Falls and Finally Splashes… the essence of life. Photo analysis revealed through artistic and human dimension of Gjon Mili. Written by Yllka Gjollesha and Suela Bako, based on playwright Jean Paul Sartre’s essay. Evidences facts and interviews from his friend and colleagues, well known former photographers from LIFE magazine Elliott Erwitt , John Loengard, Suzane Kismaric… Our Story Four girls who lives in the respective countries where the well known photographer had his artistic career, showing everything through reenactment and their personal impression. Albania / Korça The documentary starts with his birth place and how his family emigrated from Albania toward Romania in 1904. Dora is the personage impressed from his photos and try to discover what Gjon Mili earned from his country. Romania / Buchurest Mili spent his childhood in Romania, attending Gheorghe Lazăr National College in Bucharest, later he migrated to United States in 1923. All this facts comes through a chorographer, Catalina. She lives in Romania and revives Gjon Milis photos through her dance moves. United State/ Ny/ Boston/ Stamford Gjon Mili immigrated to the United States in 1923, and studied electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked for Westinghouse as a lighting research engineer until 1938. Through experiments with Harold Edgerton at MIT he developed tungsten filament lights for color photography; further innovations in stroboscopic and stop-action images brought his work to the attention of Life. Flori is a student lives and stady in New York, she loves his photos and she had heard that Gjon Milis’s name and work are famous in America but Flory want to know exactly what the archives contains there. France / Paris France is the most preferred country by the photographer, Iris had discovered the place were Gjon Mili meet the Picasso and drew with the light. Shoot & Post LIGHT was shoot on HD format at locations in New York, Boston, Stamford, France / Paris / Nice, Albania / Korça, Romania/ Bucharest during 2016, 2017. It was made with an 80% female shoot crew. Because of the support we received, we were able to secure processing deals with: QKK - Albanian National Center of Cinematography, RTSH Albanian Radio Television. We have all the photo rights resived from Director Yllka Gjollesha Yllka Gjollesha (1985, Tirana). She studiet Graphic Designer at the University of Arts in Tirana. Lives in Tirana, works as an Ass. Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning. From 2016 she works as Editor In Chief at Albanian Radio and Television (RTSH2). Yllka uses mixed media and film making to produce through her work an experience made of poetic instances, or as the artist states ‘fragments of times … where is very hard to find a point of reference’. In Gjollesha’s visual work emotions are bonded to a notion of intimate silence, impossible to reach in reality but almost perceptible with the way she conducts the video camera. We don’t know if time compresses or rather explodes when we are with her works. What is sure is that we do not get lost because Gjollesha’s leads us inside the delicate dimension of what often goes unnoticed or better, unperceived, in public moments and spaces of everyday life. She has produced many video installation such as, Time / Cycle / The Flag / Mute / Good Luck She has participated in many solo exhibitions at various museums and galleries including MuCEM Marseille, France, National Museum, Tirana, Savina Gallery, Moscow, Russia, Museo Pino Paskali, Italy. She has produced more than 7 nationally broadcast documentaries as “Light” / “The architect of sound” Script of “Dasaria” / Director and Script of 3 documentaries for Human Rights Seven / A visit at Albanian Prisions / New beginning. ygjollesha @hotmail.com https://vimeo.com/yllkagjollesha Director Suela Bako Suela Bako, born in 1976, in Tirana, Albania. Completed full acting studies, 1999, at the Academy of Arts in Tirana. Worked as a TV director & producer from 2002-2013. Just completed the Master in film and television directing, at the University of Arts in Tirana. She has directed many short films such as “Shirt Sleves / The Dinner and she has won the Best Film Award - Gjakova FF 2014. Suela is an actress and director, known for Bloodlands Directed by Steven Kastrissios in 2017, Albanian actress Suela Bako won the best actress award at the “Nashville Film Festival” in the United States. Playing Shpresa’s role in the horror genre “Bloodlands”, she managed it to be appreciated from the jury and get this award, which is extremely important for the actress, considering the other competing films that participated this edition. “Bloodlands” unfolds the story of a simple woman who is raped, thus getting pregnant and stigmatized by the residents of her village who drive her out to the mountain, calling her a witch.She is currently working on a new short film. [email protected] Producer Ajola Daja Writer, director and director Ajola Daja established her production company, A. R. Production, after graduating with a major in screenplay writing from the Marubi Film School in Tirana, Albania. Since then Ajola Daja through A.R. Production has collaborated on various film projects, changing hats from the producer of the upcoming creative documentary LIGHT (2017) to being the co-writer of Forenc Papas upcoming feature dramatic film, OPEN DOOR. After directing several short fiction films in 2016, ANA and BROTHER AND SISTER, Daja is currently developing her first feature length film as writer, director and producer titled EMILI K. A.R. Production – Film Company [email protected] Cinematographer Leander Ljarja Director of Photography Biography: Leander Ljarja Born to Albanian actors and having ‘grown up on set’, Leander Ljarja has worked from the age of seventeen in a variety of roles in television commercials and music videos. His roles have ranged across the production process, including 2D/3D VFX designer, editor and cinematographer. Later he continued his studies in architecture whilst working parallel in stage lighting and TV shows. In 2011 he opened his own studio directing music videos that have garnered awards. Leander continues to work in both architecture and cinematography and art direction for short films and features. [email protected] Artistic Director Ardian Isufi Ardian Isufi was born in (1973) and graduated from the Academy of Arts in Tirana in 1995 in the Atelier Graphics. He has been a lecturer since 1996 and now is an Associated Professor in the University of Arts, Tirana. He has participated in many national and international artistic events in Italy, Greece, France, Austria, China, America, etc, where among others is worth mentioning Tirana Biennial in 2009. “ Umbrarum Theatrum “ (Theater of Shadows) comes in 2010 with two presentations: in FAP and ZETA Gallery in Tirana, a presentation where are artistically narrated pieces of history and identity that reflect over periods and events as the metaphor of phantasmagorical “monument” of the myth that represents in the period of dictatorship “the new man. “Death of Artist”, the performance realized in Exhibition “Nature” - Small Gallery, takes the opportunity by these initial queries by means of a symbolic gesture of the artist drowning himself. U.O. (Unidentified Object) is the title of an artistic project that this artist presents in the Promenade Gallery, Vlora, 2012. Factory chimney & Mosque minaret: the work is about “transition of faith”, which in this case is explained by this historical, political and religion objects’ collage to discuss the problems of integrating cultures, religions, freedom and human rights of the individual ...! “ANTIHOMAGE” Solo-show, 2015 - Installation with the death-mask of the dictator Enver Hoxha, National History Museum - Tirana / Albania Lives and works in Tirana, Albania. [email protected] Composer Fatos Qerimaj Fatos Qerimaj is an award-winning