Daybreak (Albanian: Dita zë fill) is an intimate Albanian drama film which was written and directed by Gentian Koçi. It was selected as the Albanian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. The main character Leta played by Ornela Kapetani has not been able to pay the rent for several months. She and her one-year old son are thrown out of their apartment. She moves in with Sophie, an old woman confined to bed, whose daughter has just employed Leta as a caretaker. In order to keep her job and a roof over their head, Leta has to keep Sophie alive at any cost.
It is a powerful and moving story about desperation that according to the director, explores the moral compromises all people have to make in their “ceaseless struggle for economic security, or even survival.”
Gentian Koçi adds: ‘’The way in which characters deal with space is one of the most important visual components. They are set mostly in indoor locations (small rooms, bathrooms, apartments, crowded bank halls, behind walls), which allow the camera to get closer to the characters, to penetrate progressively into their psychological condition and the development of their relationship. The more the camera captures meticulous details and adopts the characters’ perspectives, the more the relationships between them become ambivalent.’’
The main Actress, Ornela Kapetani won in the category Best Actress at the Sarajevo Film Festival. The director, Gentian Koçi won the Best Director Award during the 15th edition of Tirana International Film Festival. The film made also the Nordic premiere in the Stockholm International Film Festival. Daybreak is the first feature film of Gentian Koçi’s.
If nominated, it would be the first Albanian movie to reach this stage. Since 1996, Albania has sent 10 Oscars movie candidatures but none of them were nominated for an Oscar.
This year record number of 92 films has been submitted for consideration in the foreign-language Oscar race.
Among the first-time entrants are Haiti, Honduras, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Senegal, and Syria.
Final final five nominations in the category Best Foreign Film will be announced on January 23. The Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 4 2018 and will be broadcast live to more than 225 countries.
See the trailer here:
Follow more about the film here: https://www.facebook.com/ditazefill/
We would like to help Mr Gentian Koçi, director of the film Daybreak and the Embassy of Albania to the Kingdom of the Netherlands in their support in creating this article.
Photos: screen photos youtube, official poster and official photo: Gentian Koçi
Source: Interview with the director: Gentian Koçi, Embassy of Albania to the Kingdom of the Netherlands Variety, Wikipedia, Embassy of Albania to the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Gentian Koçi
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