09/08/2023

Tuesday evening at DokuPlato was reserved for the category of National films, which attracted a lot of attention. Although the weather did not favor watching outside in an open-air cinema, none of the attendees chose to complain or move from their seats as the 4 films were shown.

"Tea and Casey" was the first film to be released. An Albanian production by two young and promising filmmakers such as Kristina Rushiti and Jonida Koçi. The film seems like a parallelism of the lives of two filmmakers. It deals with the story of its characters, two girls Thea and Casey, who while trying to shoot their first documentary film, face a series of adventures, which not only scare them, but teach them much more about the beautiful path of filmmaking.

"The important thing is the content and the goal you have while developing a film," said Kristina Rushiti during the question and answer session that was held after the screening of the films.

Another film, co-produced by Germany and Slovenia, was "On Cats and Girls" which shocked the audience quite a bit with one of its scenes. Adea, a little girl very attached to her grandmother, faces the norms of behavior dictated by her mother. A father kills a cat in front of her, without thinking about the impact that this simple act causes on the little girl.

For filmmaker Elda Sorra, the killing of the cat was one of the key moments of the film, and when asked by the audience about the importance of this scene, Sorra left the answer open.

The film screening program continued with "Pashtriku". The story of two sisters who after 13 years return to the holy peak of Pashtrik. A heartfelt and very personal experience of the filmmaker Ana Morina, which kept the audience riveted for its 8 minutes.

While the film that marked the end of the evening was "Mut me lule". From the title, this production caused a deep curiosity in the audience. Two villages, two people, two different countries that are united in the same story by their children. A two-dimensional experience of a reality that could very well have been the same. Filmmaker Mona Rizaj's film left a good feeling among those present this Tuesday at the DokuFest venue.

By: Ana Haxhimali

Photo: Tughan Anit