Reuters writes about the movie "Zgjoi": The inspiring story of the Kosovo war widow

The true story of a Kosovo war widow who challenged the tradition of starting a successful business venture is told in "Hive," a film whose director hopes to educate viewers about overcoming the traumatic consequences of the conflict.

Fahrije Hoti was 28 years old when she lost her husband, along with almost the entire male population of her village, in the 1998-99 Kosovo Albanian ethnic majority uprising against repressive Serbian rule.

Needing to provide for her family, the mother of two founded the first agricultural cooperative in Kosovo only for women with other war widows.

Her story was brought to the big screen by Blerta Basholli, 39, debuting as a director of the feature film "Hive". Basholli was 16 years old and was forced to leave Kosovo's capital, Pristina, when the conflict began. The scars of war reappeared when she assembled her team to shoot the film, which would have special UK-wide screenings on International Women's Day on Tuesday, followed by a wider UK screening on 18 March.

"I thought we were going to deal with it. I thought we talked about it and we overcame it. But I do not think we did," she told Reuters.

"When there was a difficult scene in the filming, the whole crew was very calm and a lot of people were crying. It was really difficult, but in a way it helped us talk about it and hope to recover from it by discussing it further. a lot. "

Over 13,000 people are believed to have died during the war in Kosovo, with hundreds still missing. The fighting ended after NATO airstrikes on Serb targets and Kosovo, a former southern Serbian province, gained independence in 2008. In the film, Hoti, played by Yllka Gashi, lives in a patriarchal community that disapproves of women. working in trade and no formal business education.

She then takes matters into her own hands, learning to drive the car and inspiring the women around her to start producing ajvar, a popular local essence that they sell at a local supermarket.

"(Hoti) inspired me a lot. It really encourages me to never stop. So I want it to be the main line of the film, " Basholli said. And then, through it, showing the consequences of the war, only to say how that war does not benefit anyone; in Ukraine, in Kosovo, nowhere.

"Hive" won three awards when it premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

"It was a real celebration for the whole of Kosovo," said Basholli. "The story of Fahrije, but also the journey of Hive, gave people hope that if you work hard, you can do something."

Reuters