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    • NTC Award Ceremony
      New Talent Competition gives young filmmakers from Central, Eastern and Southern Europe the opportunity to present their outstanding debut or second film to the public. Join us on Sunday 1 December at 19h
    • Music at ENFF
      The Eastern Neighbours Film Festival welcomes special musical guests each year to enrich our program. For this 16th edition, we’re thrilled to present two talented young musicians: guitarist Antonio Peršak (CR) and violinist İdil Yunkuş (TR). Together, they will perform a traditional Balkan dance and folk song, highlighting the beauty of this music through the… Read more: Music at ENFF
    • Masterclass with Janez Burger
      This masterclass presents a unique opportunity to explore Burger's distinct storytelling style, genre use, and exploration of contemporary social issues. Join us on Saturday 30 November at 17h - Room 5
    • Panel Discussion: Exploration of individual and collective memory in cinema
      Panel Discussion: Exploration of individual and collective memory in cinema on Friday 29 November at 18h

The Land Within

dir. FISNIK MAXVILLE

DUTCH PREMIERE

Touching, visually stunning, multilayered film by Kosovar-Swiss director Fisnik Maxville linked to his personal experience and inspired by thousands of true stories. A compelling, awarded drama in which secrets from the past emerge along with the excavated bodies.

After fleeing Kosovo during the 1998/99 war and years of exile in Geneva, Remo returns to his country. He must help his cousin Una with the exhumation of a mass grave, where most of their family members were buried during the war. But the bodies reveal dark family secrets that will make Remo and Una question their past and future. A quest for truth in a place that only knows survival. The Land Within slowly unveils its mysteries as well as Kosovo’s traditions, culture, conflicts, and traumas. Best First Feature Film at the Tallinn Black Nights FF, with brave performances of leading actors.

SHOWTIMES | Special Guest: director Fisnik Maxville

Friday, 24 November – 18:45


Saturday, 25 November – 14:00

Buy Tickets Here!

THE LAND WITHIN | 2022 | 118 min | Switzerland, Kosovo

PRODUCTIONBritta Rindelaub, Thomas Reichlin – Alva Film; Valon Bajgora, Yll Uka – Ikone Studio; RTS Radio Television Suisse
CAST Luana Bajrami, Florist Bajgora, Luan Jaha, Arta Musa
SCREENPLAYFisnik Maxville
CINEMATOGRAPHYYann Maritaud
EDITINGKostas Makrinos
LANGUAGEAlbanian, English, French
SUBTITLESEnglish

FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION) 

PÖFF Black Nights Film Festival, Tallinn 2022 – Best First Feature Film, World Premiere | International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, Geneva 2023 | Solothurn Film Festival, 2023 | Guanajuato International Film Festival, 2023 | Locarno Film Festival, 2023 | Galway Film Fleadh, 2023 – Peripheral Visions Award

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

DIRECTOR’S BIO 

Fisnik Maxville is a Swiss film director and writer. He was born in Kosovo during the ex-Yugoslavian wars and held a refugee status in Switzerland until 2005. While studying international history and political sciences in London and Geneva, he wrote and directed his first short films. Later, he attended film school and graduated in 2016 with his film ‘’Lost Exile’’ who premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and won a jury award. In 2017, he founded Visceral Films, where he produced, wrote and directed four films from 2017 to 2020, of which three were screened at international festivals and gathered several prizes. He is an alumni of Berlinale Talents, Ateliers d’Angers and Sarajevo Talents. His first feature fiction, “The Land Within”, premiered in Tallinn Black Nights Festival in 2022, where it was awarded the Best Film in the First Feature Competition. He works mainly in Switzerland, in Eastern Europe and in Canada where he has ongoing projects.