“I found my very own Prizren bathed in the purple September sun, whereas Prishtina welcomed me with its boring rainfall and dirt-ridden streets.”

These are the first words of the second part of Bekim Fehmiu’s memoirs. The book, “Brilliant and Terrifying,” was promoted at a ceremony at the National Theatre of Kosovo, the place where Fehmiu started his acting career. Fehmiu was one of the most prominent and prolific actors of the former Yugoslavia.

The book, originally published posthumously in Serbian, was translated into Albanian as part of the cooperation between the “Miredita, dobar dan!” festival, a project that promotes cultural exchange between Serbia and Kosovo, and the Samizdat B92 publishing house and B92 Fund. Born in Prizren, Fehmiu spent his final years in Belgrade and his memoirs are originally written in Serbian.

Initially, the books were held at the customs terminal in Mitrovica, as an act of ‘reciprocal measures’ towards Serbia. Last month, truckloads of Albanian-language textbooks destined for the Presevo Valley were returned from the Serbian customs after being held for six months.

In similar fashion, the memoirs of Bekim Fehmiu, published in Belgrade, were held for three days at the customs point.  By decision of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in Pristina they were finally let through.

Kushtrim Koliqi, executive director of the NGO Integra said that the Albanian translation of the memoirs is one of the key achievements of the program’s work.

“From the moment we started to conceptualize ‘Mirdita, dobar dan!’ as a program two years ago, one of our main objectives was to publish the second part of Bekim Fehmiu’s memoirs in Albanian,” said Koliqi.

According to University of Prishtina professor Bekim Lumi, Fehmiu’s memoirs are an unparalleled artistic testament. Lumi is a producer and theater director, and served as the proofreader of the autobiography.

“While the first part of the memoirs are a saga of his childhood, early youth and family, the second part comes as an incredible thriller, tectonic vibrations and meteoric brilliance of his art; as such, it is an opportunity to know him, understand him and correctly evaluate not only his work, but also the circumstances of his life,” Lumi said.

“Neither Prishtina’s provincial chains nor Belgrade’s contaminated space of a narcissistic city were able to halt and shackle him [Fehmiu],” Lumi added.

Anton Berishaj, the translator from Serbo-Croatian to Albanian, said that it was an honor to translate the book.

“It was quite a challenge to translate Fehmiu’s work because of his idiosyncratic language and authenticity, but it was nonetheless and absolute honor,” Anton Berishaj said.

Veran Matic, director of the “Samizdat” publishing house, said that the original book sold 24,000 copies in Serbia and was received very well.
 

Bekim Fehmiu was born to Kosovo Albanian parents in 1936 in Sarajevo and spent his childhood in the city of Prizren. He portrayed more than 40 characters in theatrical plays and acted in more than 50 movies within and outside of former Yugoslavia.

One of his most well known portrayals in Ulysses in the 1963 cult TV show called “Odyssey” directed by Franco Rossi. He has acted in Albanian, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Romani, Turkish, Italian, English, French and Spanish. For 20 years he filmed movies outside of former Yugoslavia.

Fehmiu committed suicide in June 2010 in his apartment in Belgrade. As he requested in his will, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered on Prizren’s Lumbardhi river.