‘Bota’ movie makes Albania premiere

TIRANA, Nov. 13 – Bota (World), a feature film directed by Albania’s Iris Elezi and Thomas Logoreci made its Albania premiere this week showing in Tirana cinemas after its world premiere last July in a Czech Republic film festival where it won a prize.
Albanian movie Bota (World) was announced the best film in the East of the West category at the 49th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic where it made its world debut.
“The jury found Bota a remarkable film with a rich script, three-dimensional characters, exquisite photography of current day Albania and beautiful nostalgic music soundtrack of past heritage,” the festival said on its website.
“Bright and delicately framed, creating a blend of different shots, with just enough editing to allow the film to set its own pace, avoiding any tedious parts, Bota is a great surprise. The viewer gets swept away by a plot that takes a while to hit its stride, but that, in the end, succeeds in building finely shaded characters, played by a trio of charismatic actors,” says the movie review by Domenico La Porta.
“Bota (Albanian for “the world”) is a cafe situated on the edge of a vast area of marshland in a remote part of Albania, and it is here that the lives of the protagonists intersect in this compelling debut by Iris Elezi and Thomas Logoreci. The directors skilfully exploit the genius loci of the desolate landscape and, aided by a period score and beguiling long shots, they flawlessly evoke the atmosphere of a place where the past still encroaches upon people’s lives,” says the festival on its website about the Albanian movie.