A State Film

A State Film
Italian promotional poster
ItalianFilm di Stato
AlbanianFilm i Shtetit
Directed byRoland Sejko
Screenplay byRoland Sejko
Edited byLuca Onorati
Music byRiccardo Giagni [it]
Production
company
Luce Cinecittà
Distributed byIstituto Luce Cinecittà
Release date
  • 4 September 2025 (2025-09-04) (Venice)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryItaly
LanguageAlbanian

A State Film (Italian: Film di Stato; Albanian: Film i Shtetit) is a 2025 Italian documentary film written and directed by Roland Sejko. It explores 40 years of Albania's communist regime under Enver Hoxha through archival state propaganda footage.

The film had its world premiere in the Venetian Nights - Giornate degli Autori section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on 4 September 2025.

It was also selected to represent Albania in the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards.

Release

A State Film had its world premiere on 4 September 2025 at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in Venice Nights of the Giornate degli Autori sidebar.

In November 2025, it was screened in The Opus Bonum competition of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival in Czech city of Jihlava. On 27 March 2026, it was presented in the Frontiere section of the Bari International Film Festival in Bari, Italy.

Reception

Camillo De Marco of Cineuropa at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, praised the film for its exclusive use of archival material and its decision to tell the story without narration, "historical commentary or captions," relying instead on editing and original sound. He opined that the film effectively exposes the mechanisms of Enver Hoxha's propaganda and its consequences, while its juxtaposition of official imagery with signs of scarcity and repression creates parallels with contemporary political communication.

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient Result Ref.
Nastro d'Argento 2 March 2026 Cinema del Reale: Siver Ribbon Doc A State Film Nominated

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sejko, Roland (22 July 2025). "A State Film". Cineuropa. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  2. ↑ Will Tizard (2 November 2026). "Albania's Soviet-Tinged Propaganda Archives Reveal a Passion for the Cinematic, says Docmaker Roland Sejko". Variety. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  3. ↑ Vittoria Scarpa (25 July 2025). "The personal is political at the 22nd Giornate degli Autori". Cineuropa. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  4. ↑ "Venetian Nights 2025: Film di Stato". Giornate degli Autori. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  5. ↑ "'"FILM I SHTETIT", nga Roland Sejko, është propozimi i Shqipërisë për Çmimet Oscar® 2027" [“STATE FILM”, by Roland Sejko, is Albania’s proposal for the 2027 Oscar® Awards] (in Albanian). Qendra Kombëtare e Kinematografisë. 22 September 2026. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  6. ↑ "European titles submitted for the Oscars race". Cineuropa. 18 September 2026. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  7. ↑ Kudláč, Martin (16 October 2025). "The 29th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival reveals its full line-up". Cineuropa. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  8. ↑ "The BIFEST 2026 Programme is Now Online". Bari International Film Festival. 11 March 2026. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  9. ↑ De Marco, Camillo (30 October 2025). "Review: A State Film". Cineuropa. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  10. ↑ "Silver Ribbons Documentaries 2026". Nastro d'Argento. 18 February 2026. Retrieved 24 September 2026.