The feature-length documentary "101 Roles, 102 Lives" directed by Filip Herin, dedicated to the personal, family and acting work of Bajrush Mjaku, will have its Skopje premiere in December at the Albanian Theater in Skopje.

Actor Bajrush Mjaku has an outstanding professional career, which has long transcended the borders of our region and spread throughout Europe, even to Russia. With several of his plays, such as "The Diary of a Madman" and "Father", he traveled almost all over the world. Although he will soon enter his 70s, his enthusiasm for work does not leave him and he still finds and works on new projects. Among such projects is the documentary "101 Roles, 102 Lives", which deals with his personality and creative work throughout his life.

How did the documentary come about, as a need for your autobiographical film or was there an incentive on the other side?

- It is a feature-length documentary. We lead the whole story in three directions, in three tracks. On the first track is my private biography, my private and family life. The second direction is my artistic life, in which next year in January I will turn 70 years old and 50 years on the theater stage. The third direction is the development of the Albanian drama from 1973, when I started working there, until today. I think that in the film we managed to develop all three directions and show the viewers how things have gone in the past 50 years. Several interlocutors take part in the film, talking about my works and my creations. These are theater people, critics and intellectuals from Skopje, Tirana, Pristina, Moscow, Stockholm, Paris, who have followed my work and talk about specific plays and specific roles.

The title of the film is "101 roles, 102 lives". How much symbolism is in the title, and how much statistics, because there are data for over 110 of your theatrical roles?

- Ever since I was young I was convinced that I am the most engaged actor in the Albanian theater, and when I sat down to write my book and when I started counting the analyzed characters, it turned out that in 44 years I played exactly 101 roles as a professional actor, 61 of which in the Albanian drama, and I have had 40 plays on other stages, ie 9 roles in "One Actor Theater", which is my theater, and 31 roles with other productions around the world.

Where has the film been shown so far?

- The premiere of the film was at the Dokufest Documentary Film Festival in Prizren, Kosovo. The Macedonian premiere was at TIFF (Tetovo International Film Festival), where I received an award for contribution to the theater and film industry, because in addition to 101 theatrical roles I have about 20 film roles, mainly with intermediate or episodic roles. I have also participated in four series and four TV movies. That is all my wealth of realized characters.

Which interlocutors appear in the film?

- In Moscow, besides the director Ivan Popovski with whom I made the play "The Diary of a Madman" by Gogol, which was a great success not only in Macedonia and the Balkans, but also in many European countries, while shooting the film we met two ladies who they deal with theatrical criticism and who, although they watched the play 15 years ago, remember details that I have forgotten. My creation in "The Diary of a Madman" left such a strong impression on them. In Stockholm we met Chris Torch, the founder of Interculture, one of Europe's most famous theater and cultural managers. I started my international career with him with my first engagement in the Eurelian project in 1998, when he brought together actors and artists from seven countries in Sweden, including Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Macedonia. In his production I also participated in the project "Hotel Europe" written by Goran Stefanovski. With that play we were part of many important theater festivals in the world, such as the "Vienna Fest Vohen" and the prestigious festival in Avignon, France, where we played 21 plays in a row. Practically speaking in the film are people who have seen my performances in the cities where we have been guests.

Your creations are known in the roles of the plays "The Diary of a Madman", "Father", "The General of the Dead Army". Is it possible to single out one role that transformed you the most as a person?

- There are more such roles. I have always answered that I can not make such a division, because each role has its own life, its own experience and I had a special attitude towards all of them while preparing them. Although everyone talks about the character Poprishkin from "The Diary of a Madman", whose creation is a really great achievement in relation to the theater in this region, I still can not say that the character in "Father" or "King" was not realized on the same level. Lear. "Uncle Vanja" and "Per Gint" are also here. These are all great performances and great creations. But if in the morning, when I get up, the thought leads me to a character, then these are some of the characters that have transformed me.

There are three directions in the film, but in life you have at least three directions, or rather relations - a relationship between an actor and a director, an attitude towards "One Actor Theater" and a relationship as a director towards an actor. What is it like to direct yourself?

- Regarding the actor-director relationship, fortunately for me, I have only directed one in the theater. It was the play "Zoo Story" by Edward Albee, which I staged in my production, and it was realized as an independent play. It was an ambient show. When the former Minister of Culture, Blagoja Stefanovski Bage, gave me financial support to go to New York, where I had the 50th performance of the play "The Diary of a Madman", I found time to go to the park and look for the bench where Albi writes about Jerry and Peter. There I realized that I had realized the play on the same bench without seeing it before.

Regarding the relations with the directors, I think that first the actor should set the character as he thinks in his head, and then in close cooperation with the director to participate in the creation of the whole image of the play. In plays such as "King Lear" or "Father", the main character must be in close collaboration with the director, but without the actor having his share in the creative process, it will not be possible to make a good play. On the other hand, I think I am one of the few privileged actors who managed to play the characters they loved. Under this climate, and here I mean Macedonia and Kosovo and Albania, there are few actors who have managed to realize so many important characters from world dramaturgy. I was lucky enough to be one of the few. But I remain of the opinion that the actor should first prove himself in front of himself and in the relations with the character he plays, and then get directions from the director on how to develop to the end. If there is a situation where the actor is dragging on one side and the director is dragging on the other side, then there can be no success and it is better to stop and find either another actor or another director.

Are only the beautiful things from your professional career included in the film?

- A special place in the film is occupied by a period from the 80s to the 90s of the last century, when I was called for informative talks in the then SIA (Secretariat of Interior). They started in 1979, when I was appointed as a member of a delegation that was to go to Albania. We were five people, we were there for ten days. After returning from there, neither guilty nor guilty, they started looking for me for informative talks. They were trying to extract from me some things that were foreign to me. In October 1979, I was appointed by the Culture and Foreign Relations Commission to host a tour of the Tirana National Theater. I was alone with the guests and I hung out with them for 15 days. Funds were used that I used to cover their stay here. There were about 75 people, with two buses and a truck with scenery. After the guests left, they accused me of abusing some of the intended funds. Then came 1980, when Tito died. In 1981, student demonstrations took place in Pristina. Then there were accusations that I was a nationalist, a separatist and an irredentist. Then there were situations when they assigned alternations for my roles in the theater. At that time, there were "awake and open-eyed" people who expected me to be kicked out of the theater, so those alternatives were set. I also talk about all these things in my documentary. Today, everyone is aware that their differentiations and meetings in which they blamed me only gave me a greater incentive to dedicate myself to what I love in the theater.

For what purpose did he found the "One Actor Theater"?

- In 1998, when I saw that in the theater I could no longer realize what I want as an actor or as a director, then I came to the conclusion that I should leave the theater, but I wisely did what I decided to establish my own theater. The first project was a comedy, then came "Diary of a Madman" with Ivan Popovski and I started performing with her all over Europe and in Russia. Then "Father" and "Uncle Vanja" happened, and for my 40th anniversary in the acting profession, I set "People's Enemy" by Ibsen. It was Per Gint's turn. When I realized that I had to satisfy, above all, my needs and realize what I wanted, it was possible only through my independent production. I have had a relationship with Ibsen since the 70s, because my high school diploma work was on the topic "People's Enemy" and I wanted to realize the same play on my 40th anniversary of acting. Practically, Ibsen's Dr. Stockman was the reason why I decided on the acting profession in my life.

How many years have you dedicated to the Children's Theater Center, as another very important activity in your professional theatrical life?

- My commitment to that theater has lasted for more than 20 years. The founders were Dritro Kasapi, me and Refet Abazi. Then Dritro left for Stockholm. Refet in 2008 devoted himself to the teaching work of the FDA. So I was left alone with the Center. At the beginning we received support from foundations and embassies, but after I was left alone for two years I received funds for maintenance from "Soros", and in the last four years from the Municipality of Cair. It is amazing how I managed to survive the last few years and how I came to a state of positive "zero". No one else would do that, but only my state of madness because I really wanted to dedicate myself to Albanian children, who not only do not have a children's theater, but also did not have the opportunity to see a theater. I am overjoyed that we managed to institutionalize the Children's Theater Center, regardless of the fact that the Law on Denationalization has taken away our space. During 2022, we even plan to equip the theater, and space will certainly be found.

Is there a retirement for an actor and artist like you?

- I am a pensioner only in terms of monthly income. Ten days ago I had a new premiere in Kosovo. I had an offer to work in the new play of the Albanian Theater in Skopje, but I had to turn it down for health reasons. By the way, I have other specific projects that I want to work on. We are in contact with Ivan Popovski from Moscow for a new project that we would prepare for the next "Ohrid Summer".

(The interview was published in "Cultural Press" No. 107, in the print edition of the newspaper "Free Press" on November 27-28, 2021)