The Orwellian Rule of Law

This week, the Albanian Police closed the ‘Marubi’ Academy, the only school in the country that educated young people in the film industry.
The ‘Marubi’ Film Academy, an initiative of Albanian film producer Kujtim ȡshku, is one of the most successful investments made by Albanian culture in the last twenty years. Thanks to the financial support of the German, French, Spanish and American Governments and the passion-filled ideas of Producer ȡshku, this Academy was set up and has operated for the past five years.
Kujtim ȡshku, the Rector of this Academy, one of Albania’s most outstanding film producers, together with several students of the Academy, was detained and subjected to six hours of questioning by Police authorities in the capital. The dispute between the Government and the Film Academy is related to ownership of the venue which the Marubi Academy utilised.
Minister of Culture Ylli Pango declared that the previous Socialist government granted the Marubi Academy the right to use 200 square meters of space within the former buildings that housed the AlbFilm production center of the communist regime known as ‘The New Albania Film Studios,’ or Kinostudio. According to the Minister of Culture, the Academy has used 1800 square meters in the building and during the five years of its existence it also has used about 3000 square meters in the courtyard. Other government officials declared that the Academy had paid no rent for the space it used and nor had it paid for the power consume. At first sight it appears that the Government is only enforcing the law by accusing the Rector of the Marubi Academy of illegal usage of public property.
This, however, is only one side of the coin. According to Producer ȡshku, for several consecutive years now, the Marubi Academy has requested the signing of a new agreement, which would take into consideration the extensive investments the school has made. However, all the intensive efforts by the Marubi Academy to conclude a new agreement with the government have been met with a wall of silence. And this continued at a time when several western governments showed extensive interest in investing in and supporting the operations of the Albanian Film Academy. Backed solidly by the financial assistance of the western governments, the Academy has managed to become one of the very rare gems that has grown out of a successful initiative, one of the first stones laid to bridge the considerable vacuum created by the collapse of the communist regime and the total failure of a number of cultural centers.
It is truly surprising to observe that whilst the German, French and other governments invested substantial funds in the Marubi Academy, the Albanian Government has not shown the slightest interest in this school, which was transformed into a very attractive and promising center of cultural activity. As if that was not sufficient, last week the Albanian authorities undertook an even more radical step which will probably lead to the closure of the only school of the film industry in the country.
Closing down of this Academy by resorting to the use of police violence has been defended by the Albanian authorities as an act of the Rule of Law. Time after time, the rule of law in Albania is nothing more or nothing less than an Orwellian Rule of Law, according to the well known principle that ‘all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.’ In this sense, as regards other private investments made by privately owned media entities close to the Government, Albanian authorities have lost no time in concluding very lucrative contracts.
The establishment and functioning of the Marubi Academy, in addition to the education and qualification of a young generation of cinematographs, has also served the projection of a new positive image of Albania, one of the most isolated countries in the world.
The arrogance of the Albanian authorities and the use of force to solve the disagreements with the Albanian school of film is, among other things, also an investment towards damaging the still controversial image of Albania and its cultural modernization.