Short Film Forum

Grasshoppers

Fiction / North Macedonia, France
Director: Hanis Bagashov
Producer: Kasiyana Angelova, Jérôme Blesson
Production Company: Hithra Films, La Belle Affaire Productions
Language: Albanian
Estimated Duration: 15 Minutes
Current Stage Of Development: Script Development

Synopsis:
On a hot summer day, teenage Amir spends the afternoon playing football with his friends, but his attention is drawn to Nora, a young autistic woman who lives behind the concrete wall separating their homes. Fascinated by her and awakened to his emerging sexuality, he secretly watches her catching grasshoppers in the stable behind her house. Meanwhile, Nora's family prepares for her sister's traditional wedding and locks Nora in her room, afraid her condition might embarrass the family in front of the groom's relatives. Briefly left alone, Nora sneaks to the stable to catch grasshoppers again, and Amir secretly enters to take his ball. Their encounter ends in tragedy when Amir gently touches Nora's leg. Frightened, Nora instinctively kicks him away. He falls, strikes his head, and dies. Moments later, Nora joins the wedding celebration, forced to dance while carrying the weight of what has happened, hidden from everyone's eyes.

Director's Biography:
Hanis Bagashov (born in 1999 in North Macedonia) holds a film directing degree from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia. He is a two-time participant of Berlinale Talents, as well as Sarajevo Talents and the IDFA Academy. His photographs have been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art – Skopje. As an actor, he plays in When the Day Had No Name by Teona Strugar Mitevska, Sisterhood by Dina Duma, and When They Bloom by Gvozden Ilić. He is a programmer of the student competition at the Manaki Brothers ICFF.

Producer's Biography:
Kasiyana Angelova is a Bulgarian producer based in Paris, where she works as Festival Manager at Playtime Group (Global Constellation / PiperPlay). She holds a degree in Film Editing from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA) in Sofia and a Master's degree in Audiovisual Production from INA Paris. In 2025, she was selected for both Cannes Makers at the Marché du Film Cannes and Sarajevo Talents.

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