Erafilm

Years after declaring her eternal virginity and opting to live life as a man in the mountains of Albania, Hana looks to return to living as a woman as she settles into a new existence in modern-day Milan.

Bota (Albanian for “the world”) is a cafe situated on the edge of a vast area of marshland in a remote part of Albania, and it is here that the lives of the protagonists intersect in this compelling debut by Iris Elezi and Thomas Logoreci. The directors skilfully exploit the genius loci of the desolate landscape and, aided by a period score and beguiling long shots, they flawlessly evoke the atmosphere of a place where the past still encroaches upon people’s lives.

The film describes how Albanian graves were opened by Greeks and the contents moved and re-identified as being the bones of Greek soldiers from World War II.

A divorced and unemployed middle-aged pianist, Oliver lives by himself in a small, modest studio, pushing through life even as he faces impossible financial challenges. On a day like any other, on his way to a job interview, Oliver witnesses a minute and clever pickpocket at work on a bus. He is mesmerized by the thief and can't take his eyes off him, to learn how he does it. As his financial situation worsens, Oliver becomes the perfect copy of the pickpocket he met on the bus.

Niko, an unemployed teacher, lives with his wife and daughter in post-communist Albania. Another son, who went to Italy to seek his fortune, regularly sends money home but does not reply to his letters. To find out why, Niko sets off for Turin, where a dramatic truth awaits him.

Aida, 45 years old, city hall manager in a small Southern Albanian town by the shore of Ochrid Lake has to fight against the infernal machine of a corrupt system, of which she’s a herself a part of, when her teenage son Mark becomes involved in a rape scandal that could send him to jail.

Two Albanian brothers migrate to Greece and try, each in his own way, to integrate into their host country by following two different lifestyles.

A former volunteer in the Kosovo war returns to Albania to pursue a career in the police force. In the country's chaotic and corrupt capital city, Tirana, the ex-soldier turned cop and ends up solving the crime he committed.