Zana

Zana weaves a tale set in the aftermath of the Kosovo war but transcends time, politics. and geography. It is a stunning portrayal of the depths and nuances of trauma and grief. The external constraints of an overtly patriarchal society serve as both a literal telling of a grieving woman's alienation and entrapment while also metaphorically capturing the inescapability of pervasive grief. It haunts and possesses its host. Lume, the protagonist in Zana, portrayed exquisitely by Adriana Matoshi, struggles to exist after unthinkable loss (no spoilers), but her real battle registers more so as a battle against others' expectations of her than her own inherent desire to "move on." She does not seek to move on. She does not seek to fully integrate in this new world that proceeds without her loved one. Anyone who has experienced loss can relate to this, the discomfort that others carry and project. Their well meaning wishes butting up against the rebellious longing to hold on, to preserve the relevance and value of the deceased. Zana uses culturally significant devices and context specific to Kosovo (witch doctors, animals, war) to render both an historically accurate depiction but also incredibly subtle metaphors that pack visceral punches. This is not a fast film, there are so many moments of noticing - stunning landscapes, skin texture, complex emotions dancing behind the eyes of the characters. Levity breaks through at just the right moments, as in real life, it's never all drama...survival requires and manufactures lightness and laughter. With Zana, her first feature length film, director Antoneta Kastrati is brave, not just in funneling her own personal loss into storytelling (she lost her mother and sister in the war), not just in trusting that a female protagonist's gut churning journey is enough to carry the film, but in allowing Lume to win in the most unexpected way and on her own terms.

Beautiful touching movie exploring PTSD and the crimes that happened in Kosovo. Amazing performances by the lead and the man who played her husband, you can't help but feel for these characters. Makes you grateful and thankful if you are one who have never had to experience the crimes of war and understand what those who went through this time dealt with.

'Zana' (2019) directed by Antoneta Kastrati is the first film from Kosovo that I've ever seen. It is no surprise that the film deals with the wars in the Balkans at the end of the last century, among the consequences of which were the appearance of new states on the map of Europe, including Kosovo. However, the perspective from which the conflict is presented is different. The director, who lives in Los Angeles and has made several documentaries about that period, chose together with the screenwriters to describe the conflict indirectly, by presenting the traumas and psychological sequels of the conflict more than a decade after the events. It does so from the point of view of the victims and especially of the women who were in many cases the ones who suffered the most during the war and who continued to bear in silence the nightmares of the horrors they went through. The result is a special film, with a strong emotional impact, a testimony and a document made with the tools of fiction film.

The story takes place in a Muslim village at the intersection of the world of smartphones and YouTube applications, with the traditions that guide the lives of families and the community for centuries. Lume (Adriana Matoshi) is a woman approaching her 40s who carries the hard work duties in a rural economy and within a social order in which women seems to have many more obligations and far fewer rights to decide about their own lives than men. The trauma of the memory of her young daughter killed in the war a decade ago does not leave her, and the woman is finding it increasingly difficult to face the pressures of her husband Rem (Fatmire Sahiti) and mother-in-law (Astrit Kabashi) who want another child to be born. When modern medicine seems to be ineffective, the family presses her to turn to the advice of 'healers' - either the local ones in the village or the most famous ones, with television programs and fees of 500 euros. Modernity and tradition, the trauma of war and the attempt to preserve the cohesion of the family, all meet in conflict in the woman's life.

The whole film revolves around the character of the Lume, and Adriana Matoshi's acting is exceptional. The villager from Kosovo is fragile in soul but also dignified in her attempt to overcome her trauma and to face forces much stronger than her in a world where she is surrounded by hostility and indifference. Antoneta Kastrati's directorial conception, even if she fails to completely avoid the demonstrative rhetoric, combines it with elements of social criticism and careful observation of traditions in order to make the film cinematically interesting beyond the manifest message. The cinematography is also expressive, with moments of authentic beauty. The fantastic thread is less explored, the director being more concerned with the social dimensions of the phenomena of 'healers' and exorcism. This reminded me of another film from the Balkans, 'Beyond the Hills' by the Romanian Cristian Mungiu, where a similar theme was also approached in a realistic register. I liked less the way the characters around Lume were defined, I think there was room for more psychological depth especially in the characters of the heroine's husband and mother-in-law. 'Zana' is a film that adds to a gallery of productions that describes the conflicts and wars in the Balkans and their aftermath. In addition, it is a film with cinematic quality moments, a film worth seeing, and not only in the context of the message against violence of war and prejudice.

It has been a month since I saw this movie, however I am still thinking about it. It gave me so many emotions, especially considering the fact that it represents a reality for many Kosovan families living in rural areas. The last scene made me cry, and I never cry!!!

This movie brilliantly deals with war traumas, but in a new, peaceful, environment. At least peaceful on the outside. You will definitely learn what it feels like to lose a child, by gun violence, in front of your eyes and being expected to live a normal live after that. You'll learn how this turns to what the villagers would describe as "black magic", and the doctors as hallucinations (etc.) because of severe PTSD. You'll get a reassurance that this could happen in real life, because it ACTUALLY IS based on real life events. You get to see how "witchcraft" only makes thing worse and how things could have gone better for the characters' lives, if psychiatrists were involved. You also get to see some albanian culture touch about the way albanian societies and families function, especially how they used to function immediately post-war. You also get to feel SO much emotion, just wait for the end...