Martesa

The Marriage

The personal is subtly political in Blerta Zeqiri's compelling relationship drama The Marriage. Paralleling the unquiet recent history of the nation-state of Kosovo with the lives of three of its inhabitants, Zeqiri has crafted an absorbing and empathetic first feature. Transforming gradually from an authentic and insightful portrait of middle-class life in contemporary Pristina into a gay love story, the movie is anything but a single-issue melodrama. Rather, it is a relevant, relatable and rewarding snapshot of how a society grows crookedly around its unresolved secrets, in the same way that a marriage can. (Jessica Kiang, Variety)

Director's Biography
Blerta Zeqiri
Blerta Zeqiri is a Kosovar director and scriptwriter, and a member of the European Film Academy. She was born in 1979 in Pristina. The war in Kosovo made her go to France, where she studied cinema at Paris 8 University. She wrote and directed a number of short and medium length films, winning the Sundance International Short Fiction award in 2012. “The Marriage” is her feature debut.

Film Selection: Martesa (The Marriage, 2017) — Kthimi (The Return, 2012, short) — Darka (2009, doc short) — Exit (2004, short)
Competition Fiction 2018
Blerta Zeqiri
Albania 2017
color
97 minutes
Albanian
OV with English subtitles
Screenplay Blerta Zeqiri, Keka Berisha
Cinematography Sevdije Kastrati
Editing Keka Berisha
Sound/Sounddesign Pëllumb Ballata

With Alban Ukaj, Adriana Matoshi, Genc Salihu
Producer(s) Keka Berisha
Production
bézé, Bunker Film+
Austrian Premiere
Weltpremiere / World Premiere
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2017

Premierenstatus / Premiere Status
Austrian Premiere