An 18-year-old girl is killed in a bitter family feud in the Albanian highlands. Her bereaved father is torn by the pressure from a local bishop and an NGO chairman from the capital not only to forgive the imprisoned killer and his family, but as a Christian, to reconcile with them as the age-old tribal code, Kanun, once required. The film is a poignant and insightful account of a patriarchal society caught between a lingering past and a precarious present.
Marija Zidar penned the script.
The film is produced by Danijel Hočevar through Vertigo in coproduction with RTV Slovenija (Slovenia), Jelena Mitrović through Filmska kuča Baš Čelik (Serbia), Drita Llolla through Seagull Entertainment (Montenegro) and Latif Hasolli through Dera Film (Kosovo), in collaboration with Studio Viba Film, Friendly Production, NuFrame and 001. Katja Lenarčič is associate producer.
The project was supported by Eurimages with 125,000 EUR, the Slovenian Film Centre with 100,000 EUR, Film Center Serbia with 33,838 EUR, the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia, the Film Centre Montenegro with 28,000 EUR, Creative Europe MEDIA with 25,000 EUR, and the Kosovo Cinematography Center with 10,000 EUR. "RTV Slovenija supported the project as the coproducer with 75,000 EUR, while the total budget is 520,000 EUR", producer Danijel Hočevar told FNE.
The shooting took place between 2017 and 2020.
Domestic release is planned for the spring of 2022. The sales agent is Illumina Films from the Netherlands.
Born in 1976, Marija Zidar has a BA in Journalism, a BA in English Language and Literature, as well as a PhD in Sociology from the University of Ljubljana. She has written three medium-length documentaries for RTV Slovenija and directed one of them.
Production Information:
Producer:
Vertigo (Slovenia)
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Coproducers:
RTV Slovenija (Slovenija)
Filmska kuča Baš Čelik (Serbia)
Seagull Entertainment (Montenegro)
Dera Film (Kosovo)
Credits:
Director: Marija Zidar
Screenwriter: Marija Zidar
DoP: Latif Hasolli
Editor: Uroš Maksimović
Co-editor: Mariana Kozáková
Composer: Dimitrije Vasiljević
Sound: Miloš Drobnjaković, Julij Zornik, Jovo Kljajić
Colorist: Teo Rižnar