Section: Spectrum

HESHTJA E SIRENAVE

SILENCE OF SIRENS

Gazmend Nela
XK/CH/MK/AL, 2023, 95 Min

Two traffic police officers in a small town in Kosovo stop a car in which a drunk international court prosecutor is traveling with a bag full of euros. The driver is detained and the money is confiscated. But instead of promotion, the policemen find themselves involved in a bribery scheme with the local authorities and the mafia. A solid mix of arthouse drama and crime film, SILENCE OF SIRENS explores how corruption destroys the lives of ordinary people.

#feature #tragedy #political 

Avni and Gezim, two Kosovar patrolmen, earn a little extra money by taking bribes from caught speeders. When one of the drivers turns out to be an arrogant Western war crimes lawyer with a bag full of money in the back seat, Avni's sense of justice and hunting instinct awaken: maybe the case will be enough for a long-awaited promotion? But the detainee has good connections; Avni has stirred up a well-greased system that will now become a threat to him and his family. Gazmend Nela’s film is a detailed study of the anatomy of corruption at both private and public levels. The local context is conveyed through gray landscapes with one-story village houses and fuming smokestacks, through references to the Kosovo War and unresolved war crimes. However, the story itself could have taken place elsewhere in Europe. The scenario is always the same. Small bribes turn into major economic crimes, and the easy compromise with conscience eventually leads to the loss of basic humanity.

Text: Ksenia Reutova

Drehbuch
Gazmend Nela
Kamera
Stephan Kuthy SCS
Ton
Philipe Ciompi
Schnitt
Felix Sandri
Musik
Boris Getaz
Produzent
Valon Bajgora, Arben Shala
Co-Produktion
Britta Rinderlaub Thomas Rechlin, Tomi Salkovski, Paskal Semini
Gazmend Nela

Gazmend Nela - Born in 1982 in Kosovo. At the end of the war (1999), he came back from Macedonia, where he had been staying as a refugee, and started to work as a freelance photographer. In 2003 he enrolled at the Faculty of Arts in the Film & TV Directing department. In 2017 his first feature film "Rooftop Story" premiered in World film festival Montreal and other festivals around the world. "Silence of Sirens" is second feature. Also he is lecturer on film studies at University of Prishtina.  

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