ALBANIA, GREECE, FRANCE
Amnesty
Amnistia
2011 – 35mm – colore - 83’
Direction: Bujar Alimani
Screenplay: Bujar Alimani
Photography: Elias Adamis
Editing: Bonita Papastathi
Costumes: Emir Turkeshi-Gramo
Cast: Luli Bitri, Karafil Shena, Todi Llupi, Mirela Naska, Alaksander Rrapi
Producers: Bujar Alimani, Thanos Anastopoulos, Guillaume De Seille
Production: Fantasia Ltd, Arizona Films, 90 Productions
World Sales: M-Appeal, Prinzessinnenstrasse 16, 10969 Berlin, tel: +49 30 61 50 75 05, fax: +49 30 27 58 28 72, berlinoffice@m-appeal.com
SYNOPSIS
A man and a woman in Albania. Their two partners are both in custody but reforms in the penal system allow married couples to meet once a month for sexual contact. The two meet by chance in the prison and start a tender love affair that looks set to end when their partners are freed in an amnesty.
THE DIRECTOR: BUJAR ALIMANI
He was born on January 27, 1969 in Patos, Albania. He studied painting and stage directing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana. In 1992 he immigrated to Greece, where he worked as an assistant director on several Greek films. In 2002, he directed his first short film. Amnesty is his debut feature film.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT
“Elsa and Spetim embody the stories of many people I have met in my homeland. Both of them have every reason to not be together and simultaneously all the right reasons to be together. The woman tries to revitalize herself through this love and the man to discover his lost self. They are searching for clear drops in a muddy life that’s choking them. The old Albania is in conflict with the new. Morality struggles with passion and there’s a high price to pay. All this takes place in Albania, which is trying to find its own identity on the road to Europe.”
FILMOGRAPHY
2002: To Katoi (short)
2006: Ygraerio (Gas, short)
2007: Bussula (The compass, short)
2011: Amnistia (Amnesty)
FESTIVAL
2011 Berlinale - Forum
