Phantom Youth

Two Kosovar girls leave their village to study in the capital, only to face the harsh reality of a country in turmoil, awaiting independence. 

“Phantom Youth” opens a window into Kosovo in 2007, a country on the threshold of independence still shrouded in the shadows of its war-torn past. Seeing no prospect in remaining stuck in a village where they were born, two girls, Zoe and Volta, start their journey to Pristina, guided by the belief that the university will open the door to a freer, more just life. What they find is not the promised city, but a place where the wounds of war still hurt, institutions are broken, and the dreams of the young have no ground to grow. In that gap between hope and disappointment, they join the rebellious youth – a generation forgotten, spent in the silence of political calculations, but still determined to loudly demand the future that belongs to them. The film subtly combines an intimate portrait of growing up with a picture of a country still being born, opening the question: Can a generation lost in ruins find its own voice?

This film will be screened together with “117” from Kosovo.

Programme section: Cinema Current / New Female Voices
Original title: Bota Jonë | Year: 2023 | Duration: 94′
Country: Kosovo, France | Language: Albanian | Subtitles: English
Director: Luàna Bajrami | Production: Val Rahmani – Orëzanë Films; Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Éric Toledano, Olivier Nakache, Hervé Ruet – Quad+Ten | Cast: Elsa Mala, Albina Krasniqi, Don Shala, Aurora Ferati, Gani Rrahmani | Screenplay: Luàna Bajrami | Cinematography: Hugo Paturel | Editing: Paul Frère, Julie Renault

FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION) 

Venice Film Festival, 2023 – Premiere | Cinemed, International Festival of Mediterranean Film, 2023 | Tokyo International Film Festival, 2023 | Marrakesh International Film Festival, 2023 | Göteborg Film Festival, 2024 | Barcelona-Sant Jordi International Film Festival, 2024 – Best Screenplay 

DIRECTOR’S BIO 

French-Kosovar actress and director Luàna Bajrami was born in 2001 in Kosovo. Self-taught, she is best known for her role as Sophie in “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (2019), written and directed by Céline Sciamma. Her debut feature film as a director, “The Hill Where Lionesses Roar”, premiered at the Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Warsaw International Film Festival and the Best Actress Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival. 

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

In 2007, eight years after the war, Kosovo was still under a United Nations protectorate, awaiting independence. The youth of this country-to-be is torn between culture and status, tradition and globalisation, pain and resilience. A deliberate echo to the journey of our two heroines, Zoé and Volta. They flee from their village, dreaming of a better future. Searching for their place in this society, where ambitions collide with reality. This film, as a chronicle, tells a little about Kosovar youth, but it’s much more about the world’s youth. Its questions are universal. Everyone dreams, but the more time passes, the more those dreams dwindle, and hope with them. Don’t dream dreams, they said.