Biography

Fatmir Koçi was born on 30 November 1959 in Tirana, Albania. He is a director and writer, known for Tirana, année zéro (2001), Elvis Walks Home (2017) and Rise and Fall of Comrade Zylo (2022).

Fatmir Koçi is a world-renowned Albanian filmmaker and one of the first new directors to emerge in the post-Kinostudio era to give voice to a new Albanian cinema, free of the censorship of the former regime. His feature films and documentary films have won international awards and recognition. His feature films include: Nekrologji (Necrology, 1994), which received Special Mention at the Montreal Film Festival; Tirana Viti Zero (Tirana Year Zero, 2001), which won the Golden Alexander at the 42nd Thessaloniki Film Festival in 2001, and brought Fatmir's work to the attention of international audiences; The Land of Eagles (2006) and Via Mare Adriatico (2007), two feature-length documentaries that grapple with the complexity of Albania's 19th and 20th century history and politics; and most recently Koha e Kometes (Time of the Comet, 2009), a feature film based on the Man Booker Prize winning novelL'Annee Noire by noted Albanian writer Ismail Kadare. Fatmir has several projects in development and one film in production. His latest feature film Amsterdam Express (2014) was filmed on location in the Netherlands and Tirana. It premiered in Albania in March 2014. Fatmir is currently completing two new feature film projects. Fatmir is a strong voice for contemporary Albanian cinema and the arts, and a strong advocate for continuing support for the arts in Albania. Fatmir was present at the creation of ACP, and officially joined the board of ACP in 2013.