Believe me I am an artist

Believe me I am an artist

25th TiDF: Greek Premiere
The video reconstructs an interrogation actually endured by the Albanian artist in an Italian police station. Because of a misunderstanding, Paci risked losing his residence visa. “One day I was called to the Police Station in Milan because of some photos that I made. In these photos, my daughters were represented with a stamp on their backs which is the stamp of exit that the Albanian police put on the passport when you leave. It was a work that I called Exit. The video shows the dialogue I had with the policeman who suspected that I am a person who abuses minors. I try to explain to him that I am an artist and I use this word like protection, but at the same time, you can see all the fragility of an artist. The dramaticity of the story, the reflection of the status of artists today, and a kind of auto-irony are mixed in this video.” (Adrian Paci)
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Adrian Paci
Producers: Adrian Paci
Format: HD
Color: B/W
Production Country: Italy
Production Year: 2000
Duration: 7'
Contact: Adrian Paci

Adrian Paci

Adrian Paci (b, 1969) in Shkoder, is an Albanian artist who currently lives and works in Milano. From 1987 to 1991 he attended the Akademia e Arteve in Tirana, Albania. He lectured in art history and aesthetics in Shkodër from 1995 until 1997, at which time he left his home country for Milan, escaping the violence of the armed uprising that roiled Albania that year. Paci’s position as an exile holds a central place in his oeuvre. His work frequently addresses themes of geographical separation, nostalgia, and memory, and conveys a keen sense of the mutability of life and art. Characterized by a fluid interplay between performance and body art, his videos frequently focus on quotidian existence and feature members of his own family. In 1999, Paci was among the first Albanian artists to represent their country at the Venice Biennale. His first major solo exhibition took place the following year at MoMA PS1 in New York. Since 2003 he has been a lecturer in visual arts at the Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti in Bergamo and the Università IUAV in Venice. He is the founder of ART HOUSE in Shkodra, Albania.

Filmography

1997 Albanian Stories (short)
2000 Believe me I am an artist (short)
2002 Piktori (short)
2002 Vajtojca (short)
2004 Turn on (short)
2006 Per Speculum (short)
2007 Centro di Permanenza temporanea (short)
2010 Electric Blue (short)
2011 The Encounter (short)
2013 The Column (short)
2015 The Guardians (short)
2015 Sue proprie mani (short)
2017 Rasha (short)
2017 Interregnum (short)
2017 Di queste luci si servirà la note (short)
2019 Broken Words (short)
2019 Prova (short)
2020 Vedo rosso (short)
2021 U’ncuontru (short)
2021 The Wanderers (short)