The story of ‘Mardhë’ is based on the oral history interview with Beti Muharremi that Kosovo Oral History Initiative realized as part of their research on women’s activism, with the aim of offering a unique space that gives visibility and permanence to a history of women’s subjectivity that has been consistently marginalized if not forgotten.
The short-animated film explores the experiences of Beti, a Kosovo Albanian woman in her late forties, during the deportation of late 90’. Beti, together with her family, is deported by Serbian security forces from her home in the capital of Kosovo to the border village of Bllacë. With war breaking out in 1999, her story of survival is stitched together as the world she knew disintegrates. The seemingly endless cycle of cruelty Beti endures on her journey to a safe haven becomes a collective story of survival.
The jury of National Film Competition for DokufestXX stated that ”…the jury decided to give a Special Mention to a short-animated film ‘Mardhë’ that portrays the tragedy of war with creativity and simplicity through power of animation.”
DokuFest, International Documentary and Short Film Festival, is the largest film festival in Kosovo. Each year the festival fills the cinemas and improvised screening venues around historic center of Prizren with a selection of more than 200 hand-picked films from around the world. Founded in 2002, with the aim of revitalizing cinema and the cultural life in Prizren, DokuFest grew and expanded into the most important documentary and short film festival in Southeast Europe and from 2019 is a BAFTA qualifying festival for short films.
Directed by:
Flaka Kokolli
Animated by:
Flaka Kokolli
Giorgi Gabisonia - Gio Gabi
Nora N. Jusufi
Backgrounds by:
Njomëza Mulhaxha
Colored by:
Blendi Pajaziti
Audio production:
Nart Kelmendi
Post production:
Mohamad AlNazer
Voice actors:
Xhejlane Tërbunja
Adrian Morina
Igballe Qena - Bibi Qena
Robert Wilton
Mentor:
Anna Di Lellio
Produced by:
Oral History Kosovo in partnership with forumZFD Kosovo Progran
Supported by:
Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Municipality of Prishtina.
