''East, West, East: The Final Sprint'' () is a 2009 Albanian

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed and written by Gjergj Xhuvani. The film is about an amateur cycling team from

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

that learns while on their way to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to take part in a tournament that a revolution is underway in Albania.

Plot

Ilo Zoto was a competitive cyclist for twenty years, but retired from the sport. In 1990, Ilo is assigned by Albania's government to create a team of five cyclists to represent the country in a race in France. On their way to France they go to

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, where they see a revolution break out in Albania. They are unable to contact anybody in Albania and their remaining funds will only allow them to ride their bicycles to France.

Cast

*Ndricim Xhepa as Ilo Zoto *Helidon Fino as Gimi *Fation Pustina as Ceti *Ervin Bejleri *Gentian Hazizi *Lulzim Zeqja *Romir Zalla

Production

An Albanian and Italian coproduction, ''East, West, East: The Final Sprint'' was produced by Albanian General Vision, Fast Rewind, and ISSTRA Creative Factory. Gjergj Xhuvani directed and wrote the film. The cinematography was done by Roberta Allegrini and it was edited by Claudio M. Cutry. 35 mm colour film was used for filming. Financial support was provided by the National Center of Cinematography.

Release

High Point Films acquired the international distribution rights for the film. The National Center of Cinematography selected it as Albania's

nominee A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...

for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 83rd Academy Awards, but it was not one of the finalists.

Reception

Nick Holdsworth, writing for '' Variety'', praised the performances of the film's ensemble cast.

Awards

Gjergj Xhuvani won the Best Director award at the Tirana Film Festival.

References

Works cited

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External links

* {{Albanian submission for Academy Awards 2009 films Albanian-language films Italian comedy films 2000s Italian-language films 2009 comedy films Cycling films Albanian comedy films 2009 multilingual films Italian multilingual films