In a small Kosovar village, Lume (Adriana Matoshi), lives with her husband Ilir (Astrit Kabashi) and her mother-in-law Remzije (Fatmire Sahiti). Lume is under constant pressure to get pregnant, especially from Remzije, who threatens to “replace” her with a younger and more eager prospective wife who will bring her grandchildren. Desperate, Lume decides to stray away from modern medicine and seeks the help of witch doctors and mystic healers who promise to treat her infertility. During the process, her well-hidden post-war traumas will soon return to the surface, and the family will start to question her mental and psychological state.

This is what Antoneta Kastrati portrays in her debut feature film, ZANA [+leggi anche:
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trailer
intervista: Antoneta Kastrati
scheda film], set to world-premiere in the Discovery section of the 44^th Toronto International Film Festival. The Kosovar director co-penned the script with Casey Cooper Johnson, and her sister Sevdije Kastrati lensed the film.

ZANA was produced by Casey Cooper Johnson, of Crossing Bridges Films, with Sevdije Kastrati, in co-production with Dritan Huqi, of On Film Production (Albania), and Miguel Govea and Brett Walker from Alief. The film has received support from the Kosovo Cinematography Center (for both its development and its production), the Albanian National Center of Cinematography, the Panavision New Filmmaker Grant, the SFFILM Rainin Grant, Light Iron and the City of Peja.

Check out our exclusive trailer below: