Ermela Teli: In socialist paradise it never rains

But back then, that was a problem — you had to see things the same way as everyone else. You couldn’t see them differently; you couldn’t have a personal perception of reality. Rain, grayness, or darkness in painting were defined as pessimism — and pessimism was forbidden. You had to be happy, part of a happy ideological collective that accepted reality as the state directed it, not as you yourself saw it.

Through my research, I came across a study by critic and art historian Gëzim Qëndro, which explored the absence of rain in socialist realist art. This study appears in a chapter of the collection “Socialist Realism as History and Method,” curated by Raino Isto and published by the house Pika pa sajësë. The book is a compilation of essays and studies collected by Isto from various authors.

It wasn’t difficult, because the fall of communism naturally led toward change. That was a dramaturgical point for me; it opened a new chapter. But even there, I incorporated my personal perspective. For me, the fall of communism didn’t mean that we had entered a democratic society. Albania was still at war; people were being killed. I experienced the fall of communism through the lens of conflict, not liberation. In the film, the personal and historical perspectives are intertwined throughout.