For years he was, most likely, the most important cultural courier in Tirana. He was 14 years old, when he took his bicycle, the film reel in his bag and started to cross the road from the “17 November” Cinema to “Partizani”. He gave the pedals quickly, he had to move the reel in time, the audience was waiting. The first to approach the cinema was his brother, then he, and over the years he passed on the craft to his sons as well. Theodhor Ziu is one of the capital’s first movie theaters, which still continues to show movies.

               

“My brother worked in the cinema and when I finished the 7th year, I followed him behind, so that I could work like him. I was 14 years old and they paid me 240 lek salary. My father left no room without asking to find out where I worked and where I found that money. After talking with the director of Cinemas, Mustafa Kuzmi, he told him that when I turned 16, I would start working as a cinema mechanic. Initially, I transported the films from the “Partizani” Cinema to “17 November”, because it was only one copy for both cinemas”, he tells “Secret majestrie”. He was a child, he liked the profession, but he also wanted to continue school.

“The show started at 9:30 a.m. at the “17 November” Cinema, at 10:30 a.m. at “Partizani” and so on until 9:00 p.m., which was the last show. It was a job I enjoyed doing. I tried to learn from the ustalars Sulejman Qerimi and Hysni Vogli, who are no longer alive today. I learned how to put the film on, how to take it off, where the sound came from, how the film worked, where the soundtrack was… When I turned 16, I was asked to become an assistant cinematographer. But in the meantime I wanted to continue school, because I couldn’t get enough of the 8-year-old, but first they asked me to do a test at work, in which I did very well”, says Theodhor Ziu, as he waits for the clock to go, to show the film at Cinema “Agimi”.

The journey from one cinema to another took 30-40 minutes. The responsibility was great…

“I learned to ride a bicycle, but there weren’t too many cars, the roads were free, but I was sweating profusely. I put the film in a tied car bag, put it behind my bike and ran from the “17 November” Cinema to “Partizani”. Everything had to be done quickly, because the first reel ran out, the second one had to be put on, they were changed from one camera to another, while the second one was given, the third one had to be taken. The fatigue was great”, he says.

For 5 years he worked as a transporter and in 1969 he received the certificate as a cinema mechanic, for small devices. He had to be separated for two years, during his military service (1970-1972), but as soon as he returned, he was called to work again, but this time he had to take the films to the countryside. He went from village to village: Zall-Bastar, Shupal and so on, up to Mali with Gropa e Shëngjergj. For 5 years he took the film around the villages of Tirana. “Every village had a Palace of Culture, everyone gathered and I showed them the film. I took every Albanian film. The show was also visited by foreigners, but especially in the village Albanians liked it the most.”

The more years passed, the more he loved cinema and film. It was the moment to move forward in his career as well. After taking the exam for large appliances, he got the license he still has today. Incidents due to transport were few, but there were also cases such as the fire at the “Brigada” Cinema. “Inflammable films were also shown. Due to the heat of the coals, they gave off smoke and had to be extinguished immediately, as they caught fire. We had blankets and blankets available for similar occasions,” he says.

Of course, there were difficulties, but he speaks nostalgically of the years when people loved the cinema, while now there are very few eyes left. “People waited in line, waited for tickets, kept order, there were also cases when the doors were broken, like in “The Unknown Lady” or “Fatma”, “The Adventures of Ulysses” with Bekim Fehmiu, “Corruption in the Palace of Justice”, etc. When there were good films, the interest was very high, even though the films were cut”.

There were years of censorship and often films were cut or blocked. The order came “from above”, as Dhori says, and all those parts that conflicted with the “Party line” disappeared.

“We had blockages. Two days after the release of the movie “A Life”, we were told to cancel its screening. Instead, they gave me a Chinese movie, “Green Pines”. It happened to us that the “big ones” gave an order to block and the film was removed from circulation. The cutting order came, but I asked them in writing, with numbers, because every dialogue had a number. It happened that either the title of the film was changed, or the moment where there was a love scene was awaited.”

Nothing was shown without first being checked by the censorship bodies, even the leadership itself saw them first. All the Albanian filmmakers show the anxiety of waiting and wanted to see the face of the cinematographer, who had shown the film in Bllok. The future of their films was “read” there.

“The leadership saw all the films. I have only been there twice, once to the Block and once to the Central Committee. Once for the screening of the film about Hysni Kapon “Party Loyal”. Only 10 minutes of film without Enver Hoxha. I was 27 years old. “Okay, okay,” Enver Hoxha said, and the film passed.”

During the years 1978-1985, he worked at the Laprak Cinema, where he was asked to work again, when it was taken over after the reconstruction. In 1986, he became responsible for the “Partizanin” Cinema, but in 1989, when a Balkan meeting was expected to be held there, the cinema burned down. In the night she disappeared and the consequences would also fall on Theodore the Black. Although he was never found guilty, he would be sentenced to 6 months in prison, during which he would repair prison televisions.

His name does not appear in the lists of convicts and therefore he would not even be rewarded for the months of imprisonment. But despite having been through a lot in life, he appreciates the time when the spectator waited in line to watch a movie. It is a difficult trade, but he says he wanted to pass it on to his three sons. “You have to know the film first,” he says.

Just as he passed on the craft, they taught him the technology, and today, the cinematographer who rode his bike from one cinema to another to carry film reels, today works with the latest digital technologies.