In April 1949,
Enver Hoxha wrote to the Soviet
Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting that a film about
Skanderbeg be made. The film started production in 1951. The Soviet Union paid for 80% of the production with Albania paying the remaining 20%. The Soviets decided to make a film about a national hero as they previously done in coproductions with the
Mongolian People's Republic, China, and
East Germany. Most of the film was shot in the Soviet Union at the
Mosfilm Studio and in Yalta, Sudak, and Kislovodsk. Some scenes were filmed in Albania such as
Gjirokastër being used as Skanderbeg's stronghold in
Krujë or scenes in Venice being filmed in the
Saint Procopius Church of Tirana. The majority of the actors were from the Soviet Union, including the actor playing Skanderbeg.
Vahram Papazian, an Armenian, played the Ottoman sultan. The screenplay featured historical inaccuracies and anachronisms. The phrase "Science has no motherland" despite the word science not existing in the modern sense yet and Skanderbeg uses rice in a scene explaining his battle strategies. A scene of men smoking was removed as tobacco was not used in Albania at the time. The Albanians wanted to remove a scene in which Skanderbeg ends a
local blood feud through peaceful methods as it was historically and culturally inaccurate, but it remained in the film. Historian
Aleks Buda was a consultant for the film. The original Albanian dub was considered to be of poor quality.
Sergei Yutkevich criticized the monotone voice given to Skanderbeg and proposed that he should be voiced by
Naim Frashëri. The film was redubbed in 2012 under the direction of Piro Milkani and Eno Milkani. ==Release==