Mandi Koci, one of our earlier photographers and cameraman was born on January 17th, 1912 in Voskopoja. He opened the first studio sweeper in Korca. In 1936 he photographed the “demonstration of bread” and was arrested and tortured by Zog’s gendarmerie. During the fascist occupation the apparatus and his studio were forced to serve to the anti-fascist war. For this reason, he was imprisoned and interned by the invaders. After the liberation, Mandi became one of the first operators and filmed the first Albanian documentaries that were displayed on our screens. He is the first operator of the Albanian artistic films: “We laugh at ourselves” and “Tana”. But the cooperation with the Yugoslav and Soviet filmmakers and the marriage with a Russian girl brought him for the first time in prison.
