In “State of Preparedness,” the audience is drawn into the shadowy labyrinth of Albania’s bunker-strewn landscape, where the tangible—monolithic structures of Enver Hoxha’s regime—merges with the intangible: the collective unconscious shaped by fear, survival, and control. Inspired by Freud’s iceberg model, the film examines the bunkers as symbols of psychic defense, guarding the line between conscious and unconscious, visible and hidden.

The narration takes the form of a fictionalized therapy session with Enver Hoxha, delving into the psyche of the dictator who shaped Albania’s fortified legacy. The psychiatrist’s probing questions create a parallel between Hoxha’s personal fears and the nation’s collective trauma, forcing the audience to navigate a space where historical paranoia and psychological introspection intertwine. How do the scars of the past manifest in physical and emotional defenses? What lies buried in the psyche of a nation still haunted by its history?

Through a series of evocative images—both above and below ground—the film blurs the lines between architecture and memory, exposing the symbolic interplay of protection and confinement. As Hoxha’s imagined reflections unfold, the film invites viewers to interrogate their own perceptions of Albania’s military heritage, collective trauma, and the resilience of the human psyche.

By transforming the bunker into a living metaphor and situating Hoxha in a rare moment of vulnerability, “State of Preparedness” questions the boundaries between survival and fear, history and identity. It urges viewers to confront what is hidden beneath Albania’s surface—both literally and psychologically—and reflect on the structures, both physical and emotional, that we build to protect ourselves.

Camera: Rebeka Bratož Gornik

Editing: Rebeka Bratož Gornik 

Drone Footage: Saimir Kristo

Narration: Eva Forstnerič

Production: Tirana Architecture Triennale, LINA Community, April 2024