Directed by Bujar Alimani (Albania, 2011)
Sound Design by Leandros Ntounis at i hear voices
Re-recording Mixing by Kostas Varybopiotis at Echo Studio
Synopsis
A man and a woman in Albania. Their two partners are both in custody but reforms in the penal system allow married couples to meet once a month for sexual contact. At first the film spins these two narrative threads alongside each other and then ties them together artfully. The two meet by chance in the prison and start a tender love affair that looks set to end when their partners are freed in an amnesty. Using breathtaking images without any superfluous flourishes, Amnistia depicts the life of its protagonists in today’s Albania, which is marked by unemployment, economic hardship and patriarchal structures. The recently sacked textile workers queuing to collect their pay offs, the run-down hospital kitchen, a newspaper press, a tyrannical father-in-law acting up as a guardian of moral standards, and repeated takes of roads and buildings.
Festivals | Awards
Berlin Film Festival “Forum – C.I.C.A.E. Award”, Germany (2011)
Sarajevo Film Festival “Competition”, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2011)
Gothenburg Film Festival “Debuter”, Sweden (2012)
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival “Official Selection – Audience Award”, Estonia (2011)
MoMA Global Lens, USA (2012)