Today is the death anniversary of the actor who would leave an indelible mark on the cinematography of the Balkans and beyond, Bekim Fehmiu.

Sarajevo, where his bloodthirsty family suffered exile, would also be the place where Fehmiu would be born. His family lived in Shkodër until 1939. After the Italian invasion and the union of a part of Kosovo with Albania, they moved to Prizren. During the years 1956-1960, Bekim Fehmiu studied at the Faculty of Dramatic Art in Belgrade.

He stood out especially in the movie “Feather Collectors” and immediately came into contact with many international film houses. He played a variety of roles, performing in Albanian, Macedonian, Serbian, Turkish, Spanish, French, English and Italian. The masterful embodiment of the characters by him would be clearly encountered in the realizations “Special Trials”, “Odyssey”, “The Adventurer”, “The Road”, “Hot Years” and “The Deserter”.

Fehmiu has collaborated with big names of film art, such as: Ava Gardner, Robert Shoè, John Huston, Dirk Bogard, Irene Papas, Claudia Cardinale, etc. He visited Albania for the first time in 1972, although he never hid his love for his country of origin.

/k.s/