Ten-year old Nori and his father Gezim earn their living by selling cigarettes in pre-war Kosovo of the nineties. Gezim will hear nothing of Nori’s mother. He is an expert at escaping the past and now he wants to flee Kosovo, without Nori. But the boy tries everything in his means to prevent his dad from leaving. An accident results. The shocked father takes Nori to the hospital. When Nori gets out, his father is gone. Angry, yet determined Nori sets out on a perilous journey and indeed finds his father in Germany. With the persistence only a child can have, he confronts his father with leaving him behind.
2015 – Germany, Republic of Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, France – 103 minutes – Albanian – Feature/ Drama
Original title: Babai
Directed by: Visar Morina
Written by: Visar Morina
Cinematography: Matteo Cocco
Edited by: Stefan Stabenow
Cast: Val Maloku (Nori), Astrit Kabashi (Gezim), Adriana Matoshi (Valentina), Enver Petrovci (Adem), Xhevdet Jashari (Bedri), Alban Ukaj (Smuggler)
Producer: Nicole Gerhards
Co-producer: Visar Krusha, Tomi Salkovski, Xénia Maingot
Produced by: NiKo Film (GER), Produksioni Krusha (KOS), Skopje Film Studio (MK), Eaux Vives Productions (FR)
Supported by: Film-und Medienstiftung NRW, Kosova Cinematography Center, Filmförderungsanstalt FFA, Nordmedia, Macedonian Film Fund, Cinéma du Monde CNC
- Filmfest München | German Cinema New Talent Awards for Director, German Cinema New Talent Awards for Screenplay, German Cinema New Talent Awards for Actors, One Future Price, Prizes Overcoming Borders (world premiere)
- Karlovy Vary FF | Best Director Award, Europe Cinemas Label Award
- Motovun FF
- Avvantura FF Zadar | Best Actor
- Helsinki IFF
- Reykjavik IFF
- Haifa IFF
- Busan IFF
- BFI London
- Hamptons IFF
- CineEast | Special Jury Prize
- Film Fest Gent
- Adelaide IFF
- Sao Paolo IFF
- Thessaloniki
- Tous Ecrans Geneva
- Seville European FF
- Cairo IFF
- Bratislava IFF
- Talinn IFF
- Camerimage
- Goa IFF
- Panorama of European Cinema | Audience Prize
- Festival Cinéma Méditerranéen de Bruxelles | Prix Cineuropa
- Marrakech IFF | Special Jury Prize
- Palm Springs IFF
- Trieste IFF
- Göteborg IFF
- Florence Balkan Express
- Sofia IFF
- Hong-Kong IFF
- Cleveland IFF
- Minneapolis St Paul IFF
- Stockholm IFF Junior FF
- Crossing Europe Linz
- SEE Fest South East European Film Festival L.A.
- Seoul IFF Agape
- Miredita, Dobar Dan
- Santander IFF
- Scanorama European Film Forum
- Calgary European FF
- Eastern Neighbours Film Festival
- The Beginning FF
- Bengaluru International film festival
- International Festival of Films for Children and Young Adults
- Diaspora Film Festival
- International Children’s Film Festival India
