» Writer-director: Visar Morina
» Country: Germany | Kosovo | Republic of Macedonia | France
» Cast: Val Maloku, Astrit Kabashi, Adriana Matoshi
Babai, (Father), the feature debut of writer-director Visar Morina narrates a disturbing tale of an emotionally bound father-son duo in the 1990's. However, the film looks as contemporary as possible for a viewer who is already disturbed by the everyday headlines related to the refugee (migrant, for some) crisis all over the Europe.
The film is set in The Republic of Kosova, a self-declared state proclaimed in 1992, by an assembly of ethnic Albanian politicians.
Gesim (Astrit Kabashi) and his 10-year-old son Nori (Val Maloku) earn a living by selling cigarettes on the streets. We are told that Gesim's wife left him despite he being too affectionate to her. The only fact we know about the father-son duo is that they are in acute poverty. Gesim wants to migrate to Germany to mend things up but the boy who lives in a sense of insecurity doesn't let him go anywhere.
The film goes on to narrate how Gesim leaves for Germany leaving his son behind, an act the 10-year-old cannot digest at all. Nori follows him to Germany in an eventful journey. The film concludes with the struggles of the father and the son in Germany from they are forced to flee again.
The film is a study on human relationships and how poverty, which is a bi-product of unstable political conditions, can take all the humane elements from individuals. How Nori, the innocent, turns a thief in a bid to reach his father and the highly selfish attitude of Valentina (Adriana Matoshi) and her husband show that.
The film’s midsection shows the perilous journey from Kosovo to Germany via Italy through the perspective of naive little Nori.
Visar Morina, Director of 'Babai'The film at some point reminds you of the father-son duo in Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief and Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful.
Germany-based, Italian-born cinematographer Matteo Cocco has used a handheld, almost documentary-like style, which suits the theme.
The film, like many great works have done, puts the ideas of territorial boundaries and quest for peace and prosperity in question once again.
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