Zana

'Zana', 2019

Haunted by her long suppressed past and pressured by family to seek treatment from mystical healers for her infertility, a Kosovar woman struggles to reconcile the expectations of motherhood with a legacy of wartime brutality.

Haunted by her long suppressed past and pressured by family to seek treatment from mystical healers for her infertility, a Kosovar woman struggles to reconcile the expectations of motherhood with a legacy of wartime brutality.

Runtime

97 minutes

Type

Feature

Genre

Drama

Movie poster image
Zana

Antoneta Kastrati, 2019

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General Information

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Aspect ratio

1.85 : 1

Color

Color

Awards

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Storyline

Haunted by her long suppressed past and pressured by family to seek treatment from mystical healers for her infertility, a Kosovar woman struggles to reconcile the expectations of motherhood with a legacy of wartime brutality.

In Kosovo, it is said that every mountain has its own Zana bathing in freshwater streams. These mystical creatures can heal, bestow bountiful gifts, and act as guardians to children who dare enter the woods. In a Kosovar village amid this shadowy world, Lume (Adriana Matoshi), an Albanian woman, lives with her husband Ilir (Astrit Kabashi) and mother-in-law Remzije (Fatmire Sahiti). Having lost her only child a decade earlier in the war, Lume is haunted by night terrors and unable to conceive. Desperate to fill a void, her family pressures her to seek magical healers to treat her infertility. When Lume resists, Remzije brings an eager, younger prospective wife to the home. Under threat of being replaced, Lume abandons modern medicine and agrees to explore traditional practices. But old traumas slowly rise to torment Lume. When Remzije catches her sleepwalking to a feared witch doctor, extreme measures are taken to protect the pending fetus from evil.

Summary

Haunted by her long suppressed past and pressured by family to seek treatment from mystical healers for her infertility, a Kosovar woman struggles to reconcile the expectations of motherhood with a legacy of wartime brutality.

Synopsis

In Kosovo, it is said that every mountain has its own Zana bathing in freshwater streams. These mystical creatures can heal, bestow bountiful gifts, and act as guardians to children who dare enter the woods. In a Kosovar village amid this shadowy world, Lume (Adriana Matoshi), an Albanian woman, lives with her husband Ilir (Astrit Kabashi) and mother-in-law Remzije (Fatmire Sahiti). Having lost her only child a decade earlier in the war, Lume is haunted by night terrors and unable to conceive. Desperate to fill a void, her family pressures her to seek magical healers to treat her infertility. When Lume resists, Remzije brings an eager, younger prospective wife to the home. Under threat of being replaced, Lume abandons modern medicine and agrees to explore traditional practices. But old traumas slowly rise to torment Lume. When Remzije catches her sleepwalking to a feared witch doctor, extreme measures are taken to protect the pending fetus from evil.

Logline

No displayable logline available

Cast & crew

Cast

Adriana Matoshi

Actor

Astrit Kabashi

Actor/Actress

Fatmire Sahiti

Actor/Actress

Crew

Antoneta Kastrati

Screenwriter

Casey Cooper Johnson

Screenwriter

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