''The Forgiveness of Blood'' () is a 2011

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

co-written and directed by

Joshua Marston Joshua Jacob Marston (born August 13, 1968) is an American screenwriter and film director best known for the film ''Maria Full of Grace''. Born in Los Angeles County, California, he graduated from Beverly Hills High School. Marston worked in Pa ...

. The film premiered in competition at the

61st Berlin International Film Festival The 61st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 February 2011, with actress Isabella Rossellini as the president of the jury. The Coen Brothers film ''True Grit (2010 film), True Grit'' opened the festival. 300,000 tick ...

and competed for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

. Marston and co-writer Andamion Murataj won the Silver Bear for Best Script. The film was originally submitted as the Albanian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film, but it was rejected when Bujar Alimani, director of ''

Amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

'', protested that ''The Forgiveness of Blood'' ought not to be eligible due to American input on the project. The

AMPAS The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

disqualified it and Albania submitted Alimani's film instead. The film deals with the consequences of a

blood feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

on a family in a remote area of modern-day Albania.

Cast

* Refet Abazi as Mark, who incites a blood feud by killing his neighbour Sokol. * Veton Osmani as Sokol, the neighbour Mark kills in a dispute over a field. * Tristan Halilaj as Nik, Mark's 17-year-old son. * Sindi Lacej as Rudina, Mark's 14-year-old daughter. * Erjon Mani as Tom, 17-year-old friend of Nik.

Plot

After their father and uncle are suspected of murdering a neighbor because of a land dispute, the lives of the children are changed. Nik, the teenage son, is confined to the house, while Rudina, the oldest girl, is forced to quit high school and take over the family's bread delivery business. The film contrasts the modernization of rural

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, where the teenagers text each other and Nik dreams of opening an internet cafe, with centuries-old customs.

Reception

The film earned an 84% rating at

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, with an average rating of 7.22/10 based on 69 reviews.

Cultural background

The Kanun is a traditional code of behavior that is followed rarely today in Albania, most notably in the northern highlands in deep mountains when people are stuck in the past traditions, which authorizes an eye-for-an-eye response in event of murder. According to the Kanun, the family of a murdered person should kill a member of the murderer's family. Although traditionally only adult men are at risk, there have been instances where women or children have been killed. The revenge killing can only take place outside of the person's home, so at-risk men are often confined to home while women become the sole support of the family.

Awards

*Silver Bear for Best Screenplay, Berlin International Film Festival 2011 *Silver Hugo for Best Screenplay, Chicago International Film Festival 2011 *Special Jury Prize, Hamptons International Film Festival 2011

References

External links

* * * *
''The Forgiveness of Blood: How Things Work''
an essay by Oscar Moralde at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forgiveness Of Blood 2011 films 2011 drama films Albanian-language films American drama films Films directed by Joshua Marston Films about feuds Films set in Albania Albanian drama films 2010s American films