Aga’s House

Shpia e Agës

TIFF65: Greek Premiere
An isolated mountain location in Kosovo offers the ideal conditions for a bastion of matriarchy to be established. Four women have been living in this “refuge” for some time: Emira, firmly oriented towards the pleasures of life, her best friend Lumja, the 70-year-old Gjyla, a widow forced to abandon her family home after her son was killed in the war, and the nurturing Kumrija, mother to the only male of the house – the nine-year-old Aga. The latter is forced to comprehend what adulthood truly is (perhaps bridging the past with the future) through unexpected ways, when a middle-aged Croatian woman arrives at the refuge, sowing the seed of doubt within the heart of this unconventional family. A holistic, edgy, uncompromising drama that gives voice to the members of society who have never experienced what “representation” means (either on- or off-screen), as they struggle to find their place in a precarious peace, cast in the shadow of collective trauma. The underlying tension in a film where a gurgle of laughter is heard, simmers brilliantly.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Lendita Zeqiraj
Script: Lendita Zeqiraj
Cinematography: Sofian El Fani
Editing: Keka Berisha, Thomas Marchand
Sound: Aymeric Dupas
Actors: Arti Lokaj, Rozafa Çelaj, Adriana Matoshi, Basri Lushtaku, Shengyi Ismaili, Melihate Qena, Rebeka Qena, Molikë Maxhuni
Production: n'Art Films
Producers: Bujar Kabashi
Co-production: Woof Films, Sacrebleu Productions, Ska-Ndal Productions, SY13 Films
Co-producers: Genc Permeti, Ron Dyens
Costumes: Krenare Rugova
Production Design: Lendita Zeqiraj
Executive producer: Bujar Kabashi, Lendita Zeqiraj, Hamëz Zeqiraj
Make Up: Jeanne Dehée
Format: DCP
Color: Color
Production Country: Kosovo*, Croatia, France, Albania
Production Year: 2019
Duration: 107'
Contact: Lendita Zeqiraj
Awards/Distinctions: Special Mention – Karlovy Vary IFF 2019, Special Mention – Cinedays Skopje FF 2019, Special Mention – Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Films 2019, Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Egyptian Film Critics Association Award – Aswan IWFF 2019, Special Jury Prize – Kolkata IFF 2019, Audience Award – Tirana IFF 2019, Special Jury Prize, Best Actress – Bosphorus FF 2019, Best Actor, Best Actress – ODA Tetova IFF 2019, Best Actress – Cottbus FF 2019
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSC Resolution 1244/1999 and the ICJ opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

Lendita Zeqiraj

Lendita Zeqiraj is an award-winning film director, declared National Filmmaker of the Year 2014, and winner of the Annual Film Excellence Award for Cinematic Achievements by the Kosovo Ministry of Culture. She has worked on a number of shorts and documentary films, which have participated at over 300 International Film Festivals, such as the International Film Festivals in Venice, Telluride, AFI FEST, Palm Springs, Warsaw, Oberhausen, Hamptons, winning prizes at several of them.

Filmography

2003 Exit (short)
2009 Cry for Recognition (short doc)
2011 We're Not in Paradise (short doc)
2013 Another Chance (short doc)
2013 Balcony (short)
2018 Fence (short)
2019 Aga's House