Official Selection - Competition 2015 / Babai / Germany, Kosovo, North Macedonia, France 2015
The story of ten-year-old Nori plays out in Kosovo, in Germany, and on the road between the two countries. His father Gezim dominates his entire world, however, one day he leaves for work in the “West” and Nori won’t be placated concerning his sudden disappearance. This feature debut from a talented Kosovan filmmaker is rendered with exceptional intensity and a flair for portraying the emotional complexities of the child’s situation.
The film, intriguing for its sober expression and focused understanding of the topic, explores ten-year-old Nori’s inner and outer worlds. He encounters nothing but turmoil, and although he lives in a large patriarchal family, he compensates for his emotional distress by developing a strong fixation on his father. Gezim, however, is a weak-willed outsider who uses his son to earn a meager living selling cigarettes on the street. He never wants to talk about why his wife left him, and one day he himself decides to abandon the boy and his former life for a naïve vision of Germany as a change for the better. Desperate Nori’s secret journey to find his father occupies a large part of the story, during which he gets knocked down hard but learns to snap back with resilience. In the end he is more grown-up than Gezim ever was, but this statement suggests a bitterness over a childhood lost among people whose sole forms of communication are harsh words, hands raised in aggression, injustice, and betrayal.
Zdena Škapová
103 min / Color, DCP
International premiere
Director Visar Morina
/ Screenplay Visar Morina
/ Dir. of Photography Matteo Cocco
/ Music Benedikt Schiefer
/ Editor Stefan Stabenow
/ Art Director Jutta Freyer
/ Producer Nicole Gerhards
/ Production NiKo Film
/ Coproduction Produksioni Krusha, Skopje Film Studio, Eaux Vives Productions
/ Cast Val Maloku, Astrit Kabashi, Adriana Matoshi, Enver Petrovci, Xhevedet Jashari, Alban Ukaj
/ Sales Heretic
/ Contact NiKo Film
Visar Morina (b. 1979, Pristina, Kosovo) has served as both writer and director on his films. In 2009 he graduated from Germany’s Academy of Media Arts Cologne (Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln). His early dramatic shorts include A Safe Place for Everyone (Sicherheit für Alle, 2007), Sirens (Sirenen, 2008), Death by Suffocation (Der Schübling, 2010 – Grand Prize in the international competition of student films at Fresh Film Fest), and Of Dogs and Wallpaper (Von Hunden und Tapeten, 2013 – competed in the short film competition at the Locarno IFF). The well executed drama Babai is a directorially mature debut that stars a child protagonist.
NiKo Film
Prinzessinnenstr. 16, 10969, Berlin
Germany
E-mail: [email protected]
Heretic
36 Alkmanos Street, 11528, Athens
Greece
Phone: +30 210 600 5260
E-mail: [email protected]
Visar Morina
Nicole Gerhards
Producer
Xenia Maingot
Producer
Adriana Matoshi
Actress
Astrit Kabashi
Actor
Val Maloku
Actor
Aurita Agushi
Actress
Xhevdet Jashari
Actor
Enver Petrovci
Actor
Visar Krusha
Producer
Arben Zharku
Film Institution Rep.
Johanna Dathe
Festival Organizer
Benedikt Schiefer
Music Composer
Armend Smajli
Actor
Tomi Salkovski
Producer
Haki Kikaj
Actor
Ioanna Stais
Sales Agent
Matteo Cocco
Director of Photography
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