Afterwar
Original title: Afterwar
Year: 2024
Language: Albanian
Available subtitles: English
Genre: Documentary
Country: Denmark, Kosovo, Sweden, Finland
Runtime: 84 minutes
Status: Released
Afterwar opens with images from war-torn Kosovo in 1999, as a dark chapter in the history of modern Europe draws to a close. After the war, four children sell peanuts and cigarettes on the streets of Priština in order to survive. They transform into adults before our eyes, yet the child still stares back at us from behind the adult gaze, as the struggle to survive becomes a struggle for any future at all. They confront us with their innermost secrets and desires, while stuck in limbo and haunted by their past. Through a close artistic collaboration with the lead cast – Xhevahire, Gëzim, Shpresim, and Besnik – the film moves between raw realism, staged performance, and an existential meditation on the long-term repercussions of war. Any war, anywhere.
Director: BIRGITTE STÆRMOSE
Screenplay: BIRGITTE STÆRMOSE, in co-creation with lead cast: Xhevahire Abdullahu, Shpresim Azemi, Gëzim Kelmendi, Besnik Hyseni
Cinematography: MAREK SEPTIMUS WIESER, TROELS N'KOYA JENSEN
Editing: STEFAN SUNDLÖF, ANNE ØSTERUD
Music: ERIK KNIVE SKODVIN
Sound Design: KRISTIAN SELIN EIDNES ANDERSEN
Sound: PËLLUMB BALLATA
Producer: LISE LENSE-MØLLER
Co-Producers: VISAR ARIFAJ, FREDRIK LANGE, MISHA JAARI, MARK LWOFF
Cast: XHEVAHIRE ABDULLAHU, SHPRESIM AZEMI, GËZIM KELMENDI, BESNIK HYSENI
Festivals
Berlinale 2024 (World Premiere), CPH: DOX 2024, Sydney Film Festival 2024, Dokufest 2024, Sarajevo Film Festival 2024, CamerImage 2024, DOC NYC 2024, Artdocfest/Riga 2025
Awards
Dokufest 2024 – Audience Award
Artdocfest/Riga 2025 – Best Director (Baltic Focus section)