“The Other Side of Valias” at Korça Film Fest: AIDSSH documentary on the women and children of the internment camp

The documentary “The Other Side of Valias,” devoted to the internment and forced-labor camp at Valias under the communist regime, was screened at Korça Film Fest, also known as KO:SH Film Fest. The film was produced by the Authority for Information on the Former State Security Files (AIDSSH) and made by Rovena Rrozhani and Dorian Zanaliu, ATSH (the Albanian Telegraphic Agency) reports.

Women and children at the center

Through archival documents and survivors' testimonies, the documentary shows the suffering of interned families, especially women and children, who were hit by the policy of collective punishment. According to archival records, in 1950 the camp held 820 internees, 372 of them children.

Living conditions were harsh: there was no clean drinking water and freedom of movement was restricted. The camp, located at Valias near Tirana, closed in 1952, and its internees were transferred to other camps in the system. For many of its families, internment was punishment not for anything they had done themselves, but for ties to relatives declared enemies of the regime.

From commemoration to festival

The film was first presented in August 2025 as part of the commemorative event “Valias – from camp to remembrance.” The screening at the Korça festival gives it a new audience beyond commemorative events.

During the screening, AIDSSH representatives, scholars, filmmakers and witnesses stressed the importance of documenting the past and passing historical memory on to younger generations.