Thirteen-year-old Dua faces the turmoil of adolescence while surrounded by the rising ethnic tensions of the late-1990s Kosovo. The reality of Kosovar society, on the brink of collapse, gradually overshadows Dua´s intimate concerns and robs her everyday life of its normality. Political violence against Kosovo Albanians escalates, and Dua’s family worries about the safety of their father and older brother, who is increasingly drawn to the resistance movement.

Weaving personal and political experience into an immersive and atmospheric whole, Basholli portrays both the vulnerability and resilience of adolescence. Her film’s striking cinematography and soundscape capture an atmosphere of fear, emotional paralysis, and paranoia, evoking a specific historical moment with the immediacy of a snapshot and the urgency of a half-suppressed memory. A touchingly personal and richly textured take on the coming-of-age genre.

The film won the SACD Award at Cannes’ Critics’ Week and was selected as Kosovo’s candidate for the 2027 Oscars.