Serbia, Albania PMs Jointly Hail Actor's Legacy

The Albanian and Serbian Prime Ministers, Edi Rama and Aleksandar Vucic, have issued a joint statement on Wednesday, commemorating the life and legacy of the late Bekim Fehmiu, a famous Yugoslav stage and film actor of Albanian ethnicity.

The statement marks the 80th anniversary of the the birth of the actor who apparently committed suicide in June 2010 in Belgrade. The two Prime Ministers said they consider Fehmiu a great artist and humanist and express high consideration for his work.

Recalling Fehmiu's life and career, the two leaders said it showed that good communications between Albanians and Serbians is possible - and important for the sake of the future of the next generations.

"Bekim Fehmiu left a remarkable mark on both Albanians and Serbs. His life and art testify that we can communicate, understand and learn from each other. His life and art show that we can find happiness in coexistence and... can build a prosperous future for the generations to come," the joint statement reads.

Fehmiu was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on June 1, 1936, into an ethnic Albanian family, which later moved to Shkodra, Albania, and then to Prizren, Kosovo.

After spending his childhood and a part of his youth in Kosovo, he studied in the Faculty of Drama Arts in Belgrade, becoming a member of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre.

His career breakthrough came with the 1967 film "I Even Met Happy Gypsies", which won two awards at Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar.

Fehmiu became an icon in Europe after playing Odysseus in the 1968 mini-series, "The Odyssey". He was cast in Hollywood movies afterwards, but his real passion remained the theatre.

The joint message from the two Prime Ministers marks another stage in a...