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Filmmaker Visar Morina’s latest work has earned significant recognition on the international festival circuit. His drama “Shame and Money” claimed the top prize at Sundance earlier this year and is now competing at the Sarajevo Film Festival, where Morina has previously achieved success with his film “Exile” in 2020.
The narrative centers on Shaban and Hatixhe, a middle-aged couple living with their extended family in rural Kosovo. After a family conflict results in a devastating betrayal, they lose their farm and are forced to relocate to the capital city of Pristina. There, both struggle to secure employment while supporting their daughters and Shaban’s mother, taking whatever low-wage work they can find as economic pressure mounts on the family unit.
Although set specifically in Kosovo, Morina frames the story as a broader commentary on contemporary European society. The director draws parallels between the economic challenges depicted in the film and mounting social pressures across the continent, including rising living costs, housing shortages, and widening wealth inequality. Morina describes the work as simultaneously “a look into the past and a warning to the future,” suggesting that Kosovo’s post-war struggles foreshadow challenges now emerging elsewhere in Europe, including in Germany where he currently resides.
The film, co-written by Morina and Doruntina Basha, depicts a rigid class system where economic status determines social worth and opportunity. As Shaban’s circumstances deteriorate, he becomes increasingly marginalized within a society that measures human value primarily through financial means.
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Originally reported by Variety →
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