Hive

Original title: Zgjoi
Genre: Drama
Director: Blerta Basholli
Country: Switzerland, North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo
Year of production: 2021
Czas: 83 min

Awards and nominations:
2022 Dublin International Film Festival: Best Debut Feature
2021 Sundance Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award, and Directing Award in World Cinema Dramatic Competition
2021 Warsaw International Film Festival: Best Film in Competition 1-2 Award
2021 Thessaloniki Film Festival: Audience Award
2021 Scottsdale International Film Festival: Best Actress

It’s been 20 years since the war in Kosovo ended and 1600 people still haven’t been found. These are numbers we don’t understand until we look at the tragedy of those who wait. “Hive” is a story based on those true events. In the village of Krushë e Madhe 200 people died because of a massacre conducted by the Serbs. Until this day 64 men haven’t been found. Every time new bodies are discovered, women look into plastic bags, trembling. Fahrije is one of them. She hasn’t heard from her husband for eight years. But she can’t let herself fall into despair. She’s a mother of two, a rebellious teenager and her younger brother, and she also must take care of her disabled father-in-law. The circumstances make her reject the patriarchal rules in her local community. And the rules forbid her to work. Meanwhile, not only does Fahrije drive her own car to get to Pristina to sell her own honey, but she also starts a business of producing ajvar. Men try to deprive her of her self-determination and women are afraid of people talking. But “Hive” is an optimistic film that despite the shadow of death hanging over it, is actually about life. It’s a moving story of hope in the face of unimaginable tragedy. It’s about the necessity to accept loss and look ahead. And finally, it’s about women’s solidarity and their inner strength. It’s also about how war has an unwomanly face because it’s the men who made them suffer.
 
Author: Alicja Sterna
 
* * *
 
Blerta Basholli – a director, screenwriter, and producer born in Kosovo. She graduated from the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. “Hive”, her directorial debut was shortlisted for the International Feature Film Oscar as the first ever film from Kosovo.