26 •Metro Magazine 195 | © ATOM
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a number of projects across a range of genres, and even con
sidered directing scripts written by other people. But it was
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Arbana that would spark the origins of!KNNCK@MCR. Although
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over coffee with stories about his homeland, particularly the
blood feuds that are so much a part of its complex history.
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found that his experiences in the region and contact with
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lack of experience as a producer (he is an actor by trade) and
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culture,they found themselves on track to make Albania’s
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might be assumed. He worked closely with a team of transla
tors and – having largely based the protagonists on his own
family members – had an intuitive sense of how characterisa
tion should develop. The decision to feature the language of
the country in which he was shooting was an important one
for him, despite warnings from industry peers that making
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language rarely heard outside of the region and it’s one of
the few that has no root in other languages, so we should
preserve it.’^4Which, of course, raises the question: given!KNNCK@MCR
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to create work there.%XW .DVWULVVLRVp EDFNJURXQG LQ SRVW
production and experience making3GD 'NQRDL@Mmeant he
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goes a long way’.^6Embracing the darkness
Built atop!KNNCK@MCR’ core family drama is a narrative about
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of Albanian culture: the country’s entrenched historical
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the unacknowledged yet omnipresent centrality of women to
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gion asFI@JL@QQI@ oEORRGWDNLQJp RUG@JL@QQI@(‘revenge’)- is made explicit in!KNNCK@MCR’ opening moments, with an
intertitle explaining:
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,NCDQM KA@MH@G@RK@QFDKXDespiteBloodlands’ arresting depictions of blood feuds and theshtriga,
the theme that prevails overall is that of familial tensions – something
underscored even more solidly by the dynamics between past and present.