Musa Isufi, the actor who claims the world of movies

Musa Isufi is one of the prominent young actors in Albanian dramatic art scene in Macedonia and wider. He is known with his few roles in the world of movies, claiming to break the film scene. The actor from Kumanovo claims to challenge the famous metropoles of art to show affinities and values of a genuine artist and pretender. In an interview for INA, the actor explains impressions, achievements, his live, commitments and future projects…

INA: What's the first show for which you have unforgettable impressions?

Musa Isufi: Of course the first appearance of "It's snowing outside" is left in my memory, this show gave me the opportunity to step in the theater as a professional actor with the other actors that had years of experience. It was a role that gave me a unique opportunity to show my spiritual, emotional, philosophical and dramatical abilities. This show gave me the light to see the difficult path of artistic life, it was a role with psycho-physical complications and with many successive transformations, the role of Kiço. For me it is difficult to distinguish the roles I played, because in each of the roles I gave a big part of my soul and I love them all equally. I want to mention the play "Drawer Boy", because this play was special in its way on the stage and the fame of the three actors, the audience liked it alot where in the festival "Albanian theatre in Macedonia" Debar 2005 won the best directing award, where I was also nominated for the best actor award. It's hard for me to do other discrimination against other roles that are not mentioned, but certainly also "Live Corpses" with a wonderful text of Shkëlzen Halimi, I made one of the best roles of my career so far.

INA: Can you describe the life of an artist, in this case the albanian actor in Macedonia?

Musa Isufi: Being an actor means being a good person,having respect for yourself, the work that you work, the circle that surrounds you and colleagues with whom you work. I forgot so many other things sometimes my own family by sticking to culture and art. The happiest day of my life was the day when I passed the entrance exam at the Academy of Dramatic Art in the Acting category. That day I prayed to God for health and strength to successfully finish school and together with my friends of art to open a theatre in the city of Kumanovo. My artistic life after the Academy was and still continues to be hard, we worked plays in basements and empty shops, there we rehearsed in low temperatures with the desire and hope to create a theatre for Kumanovo, a cite that in his back holds heavy weights and indescribable cureless wounds who has experienced throughout history for knowledge and culture. When I say it continues to be hard I say it because we actors or more precisely some of the actors are left out of state's institutions without permanent employment.I have the impression that institutions that are deeply influenced by politics dont care about culture in general, my impression is that in their eyes we are nothing more than circus players. You can become rich with other jobs for a few years, but u can't make culture for these years.

I worked and often work for a little money or for nothing. Scenic Art keeps me alive in the hope that one day we will have a system of values because just by systematizing our values we will walk forward in this very dynamic time. In Kosovo and Albania things moved much earlier than they did in Macedonia. There they have more ivestment in culture, there you have more respect for the person who works in culture, there they make stars, here they don't. Paradox, right? To be an Albanian actor in Macedonia means to be a nothing. Alarm..

INA: What are the successes that so far you have achieved?

Musa Isufi: My biggest success when I got to play on the stage of the Albanian Theatre in Skopje. This happened two years ago and it was a miracle, because before the doors of this theatre were closed for many actors. In the festival "Albanian theatre in Macedonia" Debar 2002 I received the best actor of the festival award with the play "It's snowing outside" with author Vincenzo Salemme, director Nehat Memeti. The last award for me is the special award of the festival "Albanian theatre in Macedonia" this year that was held also in Debar with my role in the play "Live Corpses" of the author Shkëlzen Halimi and director Zijadin Murtezi.

INA: What are your goals?

Musa Isufi: My intention is to work as I have worked so until today, my main goal was just theater, but I just recently got the chance to play in some movies, I think that I will dedicate a part of my energy to films, especially in Kosovo and Albania.

INA: Any concrete project that you will be a part of it?

Musa Isufi: Soon there will be a premiere, where I will be present with a role. Also a part of my professional activity is the participation in an Albanian film. In the movie "Fear" I will have the main role, with author and director Burim Tufa, a film that will be implemented in Kosovo. Also I have been asked to play in a another movie, which I can give details in the future, before the start of the project. With the play "Live Corpses" we will participate at "The Flame of January" in Gjilan, a festival of drama of Albanian authors. I hope again to be part of projects in the Albanian Theatre in Skopje. These are a few short details about my professional commitments over the upcoming months.

INA: How much do you follow the trends of the art of film and the theatre in the world?

Musa Isufi: I can not say that I am following the trends of the world's theatre, because while staying and living in a isolated place from the world's trends and art, certainly things go away without even trying them. I participated in seven international festivals and there I had the chance to see that what do they work in different places of Europe and beyond.

Of course there are differences in the views of the theatre, but this is the beauty of art. I think that our theatre game is in level and in relation with the world's trends. But the movie for us is still a taboo, because we dont have an albanian movie director in Macedonia, there are no funds that support the implementation of an albanian movie and other real obstacles that we can not accomplish Albanian movies, unlike the Macedonians who implement different movies every year with a substantial financial support from the country, namely the Ministry of Culture and other state's institutions. But I love the film and I watch it with passion, sometimes I watch 2 movies in the same day.

Interview by Naser Pajaziti