Popular reviews

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  Review by Slig001 ★★★½

  Zana tells the story of a Kosovar woman suffering from the trauma of losing her child in the Kosovo War and feeling pressure from her husband and family to deliver another. It's a film that feels deeply personal, which seems to be confirmed by the closing dedication to two relatives of director Antoneta Kastrati lost in the war. Much of the narrative is made up of the central character's quest to conceive a child. There's nothing physically wrong with her, but the trauma of loss and grief obviously takes its toll though this is never seen as a reason by the family, who look to witchcraft and "healing" instead. Eventually they find that she has come under the spell of…

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  Review by juri

  Albanian vibe check:

  
  mental illness deniers? ✅
  qaj rusi? ✅
  qit fli? ✅
  llafe tgrave? ✅
  toxic masculinity? ✅
  patriarchy? ✅
  sehire? ✅
  shiko filxhanin e kafes? ✅
  hoxha > doktori?✅
  peer pressure per tbere femije? ✅
  e marin me zor ne valle? ✅

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  Review by Julian (Seeking Film) ★★★½

  It would seem as though almost all of the popular modern Balkan films not from Greece (and to a lesser extent, North Macedonia) revolve around the horrors of the recent wars that shattered the lives of so many in the region. The Kosovan film Zana, however, takes a different approach in that it relays the struggles of coping with the aftermath of war, rather than depicting the war itself as the central force of the film. In fact, the war itself is very much below the surface of Antoneta Kastrati's film, but that doesn't mean its effects don't loom overhead from the first frame onward.

  Postwar coping is far from a new concept introduced to celluloid (just ask the purveyors…

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  Review by Graham ★★★½ 3

  creeping ever closer
  this doom won't let go
  in the past, and yet
  always present
  what have i done
  what have i become
  this life refuses to see me for what i am
  a worker
  a wife
  a receptacle for your frozen desire
  a target for your mother's failings
  a mother in mourning
  more than anything
  more than everything
  lost

  Drowning in the pain of her past, Lume lives a life among the animals and a family obsessed with her ability to birth a child. She feels the strain of her own losses in her every waking moment, and when she sleeps, her past haunts her there too.

  With pressure to see local quacks, healers and what in other locales…

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  Review by Conchobarre ★★★★

  The first feature of Antoneta Kastrati, an Albanian Kosavar director who has been developing this deeply personal story of personal and collective trauma for a long time. It’s a story set ten years after the end of the Balkan Wars, about a rural woman in her 30s, Remzijie (Fatmire Sahati), who is under intense pressure from her husband and mother-in-law to produce a child. The film is slow, beautiful, and atmospheric, with a mystery that is revealed slowly, building to a strong emotional climax.

  No one is portrayed as a villain, but the overall effects of the past trauma of war, intersecting with the pressures of gender and family roles (for example, being baby factory), and the demands of this…

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  Review by ctspectator ★★★★ 2

  Hooptober 9 - Film 10 - Zana
  1 2010s production
  --------------------------------

  I loved this film. I thought it was beautiful and subtle. This is the first feature-length narrative film from Antoneta Kastrati and I can't wait to see more. Filmed in Kosovo, ZANA tells the story of a woman struggling to reconcile with her life in a war zone, motherhood, and the increasing demands of her husband and those around her. I'll admit I was skeptical at first, as this narrative seems a little typical, but this is so much more than the normal "woman going through hell" narrative. It's got a wonderful naturalist touch to it, with such gorgeous cinematography from Sevdije Kastrati, and the direction from Antoneta Kastrati…

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  Review by VonBergundy ★★★½

  The only thing I know about Kosovo I learned yesterday from Michael Moore- that being that Clinton sent some bombs over there the same morning Columbine happened.

  Zana follows a woman in Kosovo who has been deeply affected by the war going on at that time. To say exactly why would reveal more than I want to, as this film is best experienced blind. The revealing of information and character motivations is handled very well by first time director/writer Antoneta Kastrati.

  The basic story is about a woman who is trying to fix her infertility. The first scene, we see her mother in law reject the idea of psychiatry because "there are no crazies in my family". Instead, our poor…

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  Review by night_shift ★★★★ 5

  Daily Horror Hunt #51 - from a Balkan country

  Lume is struggling with the death of her young daughter, an innocent bystander during the Kosovo war. She's surrounded by people who do not want to acknowledge her grief, are constantly on her about conceiving again. She's having problems getting pregnant again and her family blames it on witchcraft, on possession. Her mental health, which is so clearly the problem, is ignored.

  A sad portrayal of a woman trapped with her grief, haunted by her child's death. That ending really got me. So damn sad. I cannot even imagine going through that. I don't want to, honestly. I have a baby that's almost the age as the little girl that was killed in this movie. :(

  Beautiful scenery, especially during the snowy times. If I had a mother-in-law like Lume's, I'd lose my mind. That woman would've been kicked out, ugh.

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  Review by Movie Good or Movie Bad? ★★★½ 2

  Most Popular Film Around The World Challenge Film #14
  Albania

  It says so much that it is more believable for people to think that a woman is struggling wirh infertility due to a Jinn in the 2000s rather than PTSD after the lost of her daughter. Honestly, a much slowly film than I expected, maybe to its detriment, but a deeply impactful one. And man, the ending will haunt me for a long time.

  If you want to see my TikTok where I cover this series, here is the video for this episode!: www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR32Uk1E/

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  Review by mediumsizedfig ★★★★★

  heartbreaking and breathtaking.

  for me, zana hits in a few ways - it was lovely getting to see an albanian-language movie on the big screen in toronto. but, more importantly, antoneta kastrati does an amazing job of relaying the underlying crises in albanian and kosovar communities. women are robbed of their agency, and there is virtually no way to support or treat those who suffer from mental illnesses.

  this movie had one of the strongest, hardest endings i've seen, only because it was so stripped down. much of the horror in the film is in flashbacks and dream sequences; there's always hints we're in these sequences as musical and other audio queues pick up. the ending smacks in the face…

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  Review by {Todd} ★★★½

  “Remember what the healer said!” - That Guy,

  - DHH #79 (26/31): boxd.it/BaDKw (CLUE: Woman Director)

  I like horrific reflections on women made by masterful woman directors.

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  Review by Тимур

  ЧОС: Челлендж Октябрських Страшилок
  Категория 14: Сербский фильм (11/15)
  Мой лист

  Албанская версия мамы 2017 г. от Аронофски?)

  Я уловил конечно суть и кондиции, но нудно было пздц. Оценку ставить не буду, но вероятно она была бы низкой.