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The first girl operator in Albania tells the story: How I 'fell in love' with the camera at the age of 16

The first girl operator in Albania tells the story: How I 'fell in

Sonja Mamaqi is known as the first girl operator in Albania. Despite the prejudices of that time, Mamaqi has shown how he turned his love for the camera into a profession.

In a story for "Real People" in Euronews Albania, Mamaqi said that the help to become an operator was offered by his father. She says that she had repeatedly insisted to her father that she would become an operator.

Sonja tells about fierce competition among colleagues. She discovered her love for the camera at the age of 16.

"My father was an operator at that time, and I kept insisting that there is no operator. Dad talks to the former director of Kinostudio and I got in there. They told me that we have not seen female operators, and they told me that another girl is needed. The world was very wild, there was competition and selfishness. There was gender bias and segregation. When we finished the course, we were not given the title, but our colleagues were. My father was the editor-in-chief of the Voice of the People, and if it wasn't for him, I would never have become an operator," said Mamaqi.

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