Zana

Jun 12 2020 TV-MA 1h 37m
Drama

Haunted by her long-suppressed past and pressured by family to seek treatment from mystical healers for her infertility, a Kosovar woman struggles to reconcile the expectations of motherhood with a legacy of wartime brutality.

Plot

In Kosovo, it is said that every mountain has its own Zana bathing in freshwater streams. These mystical creatures can heal, bestow bountiful gifts, and act as guardians to children who dare enter the woods. In a Kosovar village amid this shadowy world, Lume (Adriana Matoshi), an Albanian woman, lives with her husband Ilir (Astrit Kabashi) and mother-in-law Remzije (Fatmire Sahiti). Having lost her only child a decade earlier in the war, Lume is haunted by night terrors and unable to conceive. Desperate to fill a void, her family pressures her to seek magical healers to treat her infertility. When Lume resists, Remzije brings an eager, younger prospective wife to the home. Under threat of being replaced, Lume abandons modern medicine and agrees to explore traditional practices. But old traumas slowly rise to torment Lume. When Remzije catches her sleepwalking to a feared witch doctor, extreme measures are taken to protect the pending fetus from evil.

Written by

Casey Cooper Johnson, Antoneta Kastrati

Directed by

Antoneta Kastrati

Production Countries

Kosovo, Albania

Production Companies

Alief, Crossing Bridges Films, On Film Production

Languages

shqip

Awards

8 wins & 19 nominations

Scores
# of Votes
4,885
Average Rating
7.1 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA