Monthly Archives: October 2014

Kosovar Ministry Of Diaspora Interlinks Youth And Student Organizations Abroad

The Kosovar Ministry of Diaspora is on its final steps of establishing a wide network of Kosovar student and youth organizations abroad. The aim of such an initiative is to organize and reach greater results towards gathering the organizations and interested youth in preserving culture,language and tradition. Furthermore, the Ministry invites all individuals with people with academic background, NGO’s and other civil initiatives to join the discussion and contribute to creating a solid network of people.

The first network is foreseen to be created in Austria.

The event will be held on:

November 1st 2014

Republic of Kosovo Embassy,Goldeggasse 2/14, 1040, Vienna

Time: 11:00

Please confirm your attendance at:

[email protected] or [email protected].

For further inquiry please contact the embassy at:

Faruk Ajeti

[email protected]

Albanian culture: from Germany to Kyrgyzstan and Tibet

From the young talents at the Voice of Germany to the performances of the Kosovo theater in Kyrgyzstan and the tour of a Kosovo film in Tibet, Spain, Nicaragua and New York, our diaspora has been busy shedding light on the Albanian culture worldwide.

The Voice of Germany started on October 23rd. One of the competitors, the young  Floriana Imeri has started successfully , presenting herself as one of the main candidates to achieve the highest levels of this competition. The 22 years-old Albanian is a well-known singer to the Kosovo public, who was presented with an album two years ago in the Kosovo scene.

20140502090223637646

Another success worth our attention was The Amok play in Bishkek, the capital city of ex-Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan. Amok has returned from the Central Asian festival Impuls with an award presented for “great scenic creative harmony”. The play examines the lives of people with the Amok syndrome, and has also been awarded in international festivals in Varna of Bulgaria, Bitola of Macedonia, etc.

Not so far from Kyrgyzstan, is the Free Spirit Tibetan Film Festival established by the American director Steven Spielberg and the Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama. Kosovo is represented at this festival with Agnus Dei. This film of the Kosovo director Agim Sopi will also be presented in Seville at NOIDENTITY-International Action Film Festival on October 27th. Agnus Dei will also be presented in Nicaraguan International Film Festival starting on November 5th. The last destination of this world tour of the Kosovo film will be the New York International Film Festival that will be held from November 6th to November 10th.

Do you happen to be nearby any of these events? Send us your story or impression of the events and have it published here!

 

“Fluturimi…” at the prestigious Italian festival Vie Modena

The comedy from Kosovo was presented to the Italian audience in Castelfranco Emilia Teatro Dada. The political satire by Jeton Neziraj, Flight over the Kosovo Theater (“Fluturimi mbi teatrin e Kosovës”) was presented on the 17th and 18th of October at the prestigious Italian festival Vie Modena which opened on the 9th October and will last until October 25th. 20141015132218534600 In this interpretation, the influence of politics in art and glorification of government come to an ironic format, with actors who constantly play with the idea of the state and the politics of Kosovo, which comes with empty words, though many claims. After Italy, the comedy has lined up performances at the “Demoludy” festival of Poland and Schlachthaus in Switzerland.

Shkëlzen Gashi Leads Basel To The Top

Shkëlzen Gashi was the hero of the match with his winning goal against the Young Boys team, thus ranking Basel back on top of the Swiss super-league. The goal scored at the 33rd minute by Gashi is his 5th on the league.

Watch Gashi score against the Young Boys:

And a news coverage of Shkelzen Gashi’s play:

 

Neue Burcher Zeitung

Neue Burcher Zeitung

 

 

Albanian Film Week in New York 2014

The United States is one of the countries with the highest number of Albanians who actively promote our art and culture.

The Albanian Film Week (AFW) in the United States was founded by the producer and director Mrika Krasniqi. The first edition of the Albanian Film Week was held in New York in November 2012 with the motto “100 for 100”, where 100 films of Albanian cinematography were shown in honor of the 100th anniversary of independence of the Albanian state.

The third edition of the Albanian Film Week coming up in November will present 30 films of Albanian filmmakers from around the world. The Week will also host foreign film productions which treat topics, events and issues related to Albanians.

This edition of AFW will present ten awards: Best Feature Film; Best Short Film; Best Documentary Film; Best Actor; Best Actress; Best Music; Best Camera; Best Screenplay; Production Award; Public Award; Best Director; and Best Editing.

Celebrating the Work of Gjergj Fishta in Norway

The Albanian League of Writers and Artists in Norway will be holding an event dedicated to celebrating the 143rd birth year of the great national poet Gergj Fishta. The league invites people of all walks of life who find Fishta’s writing inspiring and would like to meet with other fellow writers and artists. The event shall emphasize the importance of Gjergj Fishta, who is also known as the “Albanian Homer” as well as the first Albanian writer to be nominated for a Nobel Prize.

The event shall take place on the 26th of October at “Naim Frashëri” School Sverregata 7. Oslo, Norway, starting at 15:00.

For further information, please contact the following number;

99 56 43 51

 

Kosovo Scores Another Victory

The Kosovo national football team played against the Swiss second league team of FC Wil. The team of Albert Bunjaku scored a beautiful goal that eventually led to FC Kosova winning the game. The Kosovar team dominated throughout the whole 90 minutes; great ball possession and team-play led to an easy win. “We only wanted to score more goals in front of this great Albanian audience” said Mr Albert Bunjaku, the coach of the Kosovo team.

The game was played in Switzerland and roughly 2600 fans got the chance to see the Kosovo team face FC Wil.

This is Kosovo’s second victorious match following the friendly with Oman (1:0).

For more insight, please check the following video coverage of the game:

An Albanian Language School in Manhattan

After years of hard work and dedication, the American Albanian children of the Manhattan area will have the chance to learn Albanian. Mrs. Liza Pëllumbi, with years of teaching experience, has been the initiator and the leading voice of this initiative and the effort has finally paid off.

The school is without a doubt a great initiative and it covers a lot of the essential needs of the diaspora. However, there is a lot more that needs to be done. As an initiative, it could spark a greater impact within the education aspect of the diaspora. Furthermore, such efforts show the good will and the possibility of one day sending Albanian children in the US to schools where their mother tongue is spoken and taught. This is an actual reality for most of the other communities be that Jewish, Chinese, Greek or Russian. These minority communities in the US have the possibility of utilizing their full potential through educating their young.

Mr. Qemal Zylo, a leading voice in the initiative on Albanian Language Schooling for diaspora children was present and wished a great beginning to the pupils and teachers alike. Mr. Zylo thanked Mrs. Pllumbi and Mrs. Nilaj for their continuous contribution to the cause. On his announcement speech, Mr. Zylo also noted the two other Albanian teaching schools in Staten Island and Brooklyn, and that the experience gathered from these schools will without a doubt serve as a solid foundation for the Manhattan based school.

 

Kosovo presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair

The largest international book fair in the world has taken place In Frankfurt, from the 8th until the 12th of October.

The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world’s largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented, as well as the number of visitors.
The Frankfurt Book Fair is known as the greatest of its kind in the world, where different countries are represented, including the Republic of Kosovo.

2

According to the organizers, there were 7500 participants in this year’s fair. Publishers Association of Kosovo presented more than 200 titles in the past two years, more than half of which were published this year. Among the participating publishers from Kosovo are the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Kosovo Albanology Institute, Institute of History of Kosovo, Koha, Buzuku, Alba, Dija, Mendimi Pozitiv, Rugova Art, Titanik etc.

The stand of Kosovo has also honored the 200th anniversary of Jeronim de Rada, in a joint commemoration of the respective ministries of culture of Albania and Kosovo.

Over 100 countries, almost 10 thousand journalists, 650 publishing agents and about 300,000 visitors have honored the celebration of the book.

A Kosovan Among The Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The story of Lirim Hajrullahu is worth our continuous coverage and support. Lirim’s example of integration within the culture and sports of Canada is typical for many Kosovars. A quick search on Youtube or Google will lead one to the many pages and videos that fans and news channels have dedicated to the quickly rising star  of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Watch a short video narrate the story of Lirim. The story of a refugee becoming a football star is something we are only used to seeing in the movies. To Lirim and his family, however, this has been a first hand experience. We believe that every migrant brings more than just a workforce to the hosting country. In this case, Lirim’s love for soccer had been translated into the love for American Football, and hamburgers.

CFL

www.cfl.ca

WINIPEG

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com

WINIPEG SUN

http://www.winnipegsun.com

 

Follow Lirim Hajrullahu on Twitter here and also find out more how other people are commenting Lirim’s rise to success.