Film Archive

CHROMIUM

East of the West - Competition 2015 / KROM / Albania, Kosovo, Germany, Greece 2015

While a mute and lonely mother lives a life that is far from easy, she nevertheless bares her lot with dignity and courage. Her 15-year-old son is trying to stand on his own two feet, but in so doing he only complicates the grim situation in the family. This sensitive coming-of-age picture is the second feature from Albanian director Bujar Alimani.

Synopsis

For the film’s 15-year-old protagonist, illegal work in the chromium mines represents a turning point in his life that helps him to leave childhood behind and stand on the threshold of adulthood. A quiet boy, he lives in a small house on the edge of town with his younger brother and his deaf-mute mother. They are not bad off, but they have little money to spare. For the boy, the chance for extra income, though illegal and physically challenging, represents a path towards seeming independence, but he doesn't realize that the consequences of his decisions will influence his entire family. The only one he trusts is an attractive young math teacher whose similarly rebellious nature enables her to empathize with him. Perhaps she can help him realize that his rebellion won’t take him where he wants to go. In his second film, Bujar Alimani uses long and carefully composed shots to present a story in which body language and the characters’ internal experiences are more important than what is said. The film’s meditative mood emphasizes the director’s insight into the rarely easy process of growing up.

Anna Kořínek

About the film

78 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Bujar Alimani / Screenplay Bujar Alimani / Dir. of Photography Ilias Adamis / Music Pjeter Gaci / Editor Bonita Papastathi / Art Director Emir Turkeshi Gramo / Producer Tefta Bejko, Valon Jakupaj, Anita Elsani, Thanos Anastopoulos, Stella Theodorakis / Production 90 Production, Gegnia Film / Coproduction Elsani Film, Fantasia Ltd. / Cast Frefjon Ruci, Klodjana Keco, Mirela Naska, Kasem Hoxha / Contact 90 Production

About the director

Bujar Alimani (b. 1969, Patos, Albania) is a director, screenwriter and producer. He studied painting and theatre direction at the Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana. In 1992 he emigrated to Greece where he worked on several films as assistant director. His short films The Kennel (2002), Gas (Ygraerio, 2006), The Compass (Busulla, 2007) and One Love Story (Mia istoria agapis, 2010) received awards at numerous international festivals (including Tampere, Sydney, and Montpellier). In 2011 he filmed his feature debut Amnesty (Amnistia), which premiered at the Berlinale, becoming the first Albanian film to be screened there; it was also the first Albanian project to be financed by the Eurimages fund. The film subsequently screened at many other film festivals and won numerous awards.