In memory of Bekim Fehmiu, one of the former Yugoslavia's greatest actors, Kinoteka BiH, the Museum of Film in Sarajevo, offered a special cinematic programme in October.

The programme, called “Bekim Fehmiu - In memoriam: 1936-2010”, gave audiences the chance to see many of Fehmiu's most famous films made by Serbian, Bosnian, Italian, French, American and other producers.

Fehmiu's career saw him act in around 50 films, perform over 40 theatre roles, and receive many awards. His most famous part was as Bora in "I Even Met Happy Gypsies" (1967), a film directed by Aleksandar “Saša” Petrović. The film won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1967.

Fehmiu acted in a number of foreign films side-by-side with some of the world's most famous actors like Dino de Laurentis, John Huston, Ava Gardner, and Charles Aznavour.

A large number of people visited the mini festival. “I saw ‘The Feather Gatherers’ again because I wanted to recall the good old movies I used to grow up with. I went to see it together with my wife and daughter, because I want to teach my little girl how to recognize true artistic values as early as possible,” said Mimo Sahinpasić, an eminent Bosnian journalist.

The screening was the festival's way of paying tribute to one of the region's most celebrated artists. The Sarajevo Film Festival is traditionally devoted to regional film and local artists.

"Bekim Fehmiu is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors from this region. His talent and creativity went far beyond the borders of the former Yugoslavia and he became one of the first actors from the former joint state to rise to European and international stardom," said Mirsad Purivatra, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival.
 

 

Who was Bekim Fehmiu?

Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1936, Fehmiu spent his childhood in the town of Prizren (Kosovo*). He graduated from the Belgrade School of Dramatic Arts in 1960.

He spent the larger part of his life in Belgrade until he committed suicide in his apartment on June 15, 2010 at the age of 74.

It is said that Bekim Fehmiu was devastated when the former Yugoslavia broke up. When conflicts began between Albanians and Serbs, Fehmiu withdrew from public life in the 1980s and dropped acting altogether.

"The worlds and identities that surfaced in the war and post-war period were not his. He lived in love and in solitude. Who knows which was the greater of the two," Miljenko Jergović, the famous Croatian writer and friend of Bekim said of the late actor.

Director Dinko Tucaković says that "In the end, Bekim's silence proved to be thunderous. The media in Serbia, Kosovo, Italy, Albania and around the world kicked up a storm... They remembered the actor and celebrated the man."

Another friend, Pero Zlatar, a writer from Croatia, tried to describe Fehmiu by giving the following anecdote:

"The international press featured a shot of Bekim being approached by the producer Dino de Laurentis at a beach party, with an offer to play the lead role in the spectacular TV series Odysseus. The famous producer, who could cause the highest-earning stars of the time to quiver in fear, was immensely surprised when Fehmiu asked for more money. The manager who brokered the meeting admonished Bekim: "Man, are you out of your mind, you don't talk to De Laurentis like that!" Still, Bekim Fehmiu stuck to his guns until de Laurentis finally gave in and signed the contract.

"What if De Laurentis had insisted on getting his way? You would have lost the job of a lifetime!" Zlatar later observed during an encounter with Bekim. To that he replied: "I gambled and succeeded!"

In addition to being a phenomenal actor, Bekim Fehmiu also successfully tried his hand at literature. After withdrawing from public life, he released an autobiography called, "Spooky and Shiny" to the delight of his fans in 2001.

In the first part of the book, Fehmiu recalls his childhood in Sarajevo, Skadar and Prizren, in the years before World War Two.

In addition to being a coming of age story, the book focuses on Albanian family life in Kosovo. In the second part of the book, Bekim writes of the outbreak of World War II in Yugoslavia.