Tinka Kurti

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Tinka Kurti
Tinka Kurti

Tinka Kurti (born December 17, 1932) is one of the best known Albanian actresses. Her body of work, in about 60 years, includes more than 50 feature movies and 150 theatre plays.

Tinka was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). She was the oldest of four children. At a young age her family moved to the city of Shkodra in northern part of Albania. It is in Shkodra where she would spend most of her life and join the theatre at a young age.

In 1947 she was expelled from the Liceu Artistik (School of Arts) in Tirana and was never able to graduate. However, this did not stop her from pursuing her acting career. She made her first theatre appearance at the age of 16, a minor role, in the play Dasma Shkodrane (Wedding from Shkodra.) From 1949 she became a member of the Theatre Migjeni in Shkodra where she was part of over 120 plays (dramas and comedies). Such plays include "Gjaku i Arbrit", “Histori Irkutase”, “Toka Jonë”, “Fisheku në pajë” and “Fejesa e Çehovit”.

Kurti did not limit herself only to theatre and decided to try film too. In 1958, she was chosen as the leading female role in the first Albanian feature film “Tana.” What followed was an endless series of film roles that would rightfully make her name a treasure of Albanian art. Some include Mother Pashako in "Yjet e netëve të gjata", the Aunt in "Cifti i lumtur", Sinjorina Mançini in "Vajzat me kordele të kuqe", the Grandmother in "Zemra e Nënës".

She won many national and international awards for her body of work, including "Artist of the People" and "Great Master of Work". In 1996 Kurti was honored by the American Biographical Institute with its “Woman of the Year" award. Upon receiving the award, Kurti said: “I want to thank from the bottom of my heart those who honored me with this award. I only learned about it a short time ago, but it’s something that will not be easily forgotten.” In Sweden, the Albanian theatre of the city of Malmö is named after her.

In 2003, the Albanian director, Esat Teliti, made a bibliographical film as a tribute to her life. It was simply named “Tinka”.

To this day Kurti still acts and amazes her audience wherever she goes. She once said: "I don't fear the old age, not even death. But, I do fear the senility of the brain, and when that moment will come, I think I would be dead two times. That's why I want to work."

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References


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