Albania, 1958. Luana, the daughter of a well respected man in the village, makes friends with Agim, who moved here after his family were banned from the city by the communists. Years later, their childhood friendship turns into teenage love, but without prospects. Luana’s father promised her in marriage to someone else when she was a child. When her father finds out about Luana and Agim’s love, he is furious and immediately arranges for his daughter to be married to the man he chose for her. Luana faces a dilemma: to flee with her lover to Germany, risking being caught by the communists and probably killed, or stay loyal to her family. A poignant love story set in dark times shaped by pressure from old traditions. A deeply human tale about freedom, which is the greatest good even if the price is loneliness.

A random explosion connects three stories, where strangers are trying to find some way to live on the edge of legality.

Amnesty is a 2011 Albanian movie directed by Bujar Alimani. It’s a story about two people who meet up in jail when they come for monthly visits of their spouses. They fall in love after becoming witnesses to a wedding in jail but their relationship has to end because both their spouses get amnesty from the government. What happens next is shown in usual Southeast European movie style.

While a mute and lonely mother lives a life that is far from easy, she nevertheless bares her lot with dignity and courage. Her 15-year-old son is trying to stand on his own two feet, but in so doing he only complicates the grim situation in the family.

She is alone. The land of the living is far away, while the world of the dead smells like chamomile.