Winners announced for the "Ask Your Grandparents 1" competition

Published on 27 October 2016

In the context of MEMORY DAYS, a special ceremony was organized for the winners of the "ASK YOUR GRANDPARENTS" multimedia competition that was launched on 18 May 2016 as a confrontation between generations so that memory is not lost.

The ceremony was opened by Dr. Jonila Godole, executive director of IDMC, who thanked all young people for their interest in the competition and their interesting works in bringing this topic, still taboo for the Albanian society. In his address, Mr. Walter Glos, director of the German foundation Konrad Adenauer in Albania and supportive of the activities of IDMC, noted how little has been done and how much more needs to be done in the field of memory in Albania. According to him, in the context of a society that has done only a little about the past, the "Ask Your Grandparents" competition is a courageous and important project.

According to Ms. Malaj, deputy minister of the Ministry of Education and Sports, these creative initiatives, such as the competition of IDMC must be taken into consideration when reflecting about the curriculum because memory according to her is a necessity for the path of democracy. While the German deputy ambassador, Ms. Anke Holstein, shared with the audience the tough experience of her grandfather during World War II and said that the beauty of these evidences is their authenticity. According to her, the competition is an incentive to work more in the field of memory.

Present at the awards ceremony was the former Commissioner for the Stasi files and deputy Board of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Ms. Hildigund Neubert. She said that opening files will have evidence of scary things that have happened, but we must not forget that in there we will find the evidence of resistance, as well.

The awards ceremony was moderated by Mr. Eno Popi, also a member of the jury. The competition announced 7 winners: one first place, two second places, three third places and the prize of the social network.

1st Place: Erlisa Kulla, "The Dictatorship Train"
2nd Place: Adil Brahimi, "The Colors of Dictatorship"
2nd Place: Kejsi Shkëmbi, "The Story of My Grandmother"
3rd Place: Andi Bora, "The Story of Imam Ibrahim Bardhylit"
3rd Place: Bora Malelli, "Living in a Prison without Bars"
3rd Place: Dhimitër Zguro, "Travelling into the Past..."
Social Network Prize: Arsiana Durmishaj, "The Story of Lizete"

IDMC, as the organizer of the competition, would like to thank all attendees for their interest in the subject, as well as our partners:

Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Albania, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Ministry of Education and Sports, Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth, and Telekom Albania.