Directed by Lorin Terezi

Albania, Spain/ 2020/ Fiction/ 23’19”

Synopsis

A young bride tasked with the trivial errands for her in-laws whilst her husband is in Greece, stumbles across a dead woman’s body whilst fetching the water from the fountain. Pushed to the side both the in-laws proceed to talk to the local news lying about finding the body and revelling in the attention they’re getting. A battle amongst the villagers to get coverage in the news ensues, and the actual crime itself becomes overshadowed. We see the young bride coveting the hair slide from the victim.

• Director: Lorin Terezi

Director’s Statement

In this script, I find a violent media reality, the one that we face every day. A disturbing fact is the exaggeration of the news, only for one more view, one more click…with the only purpose to sell the news. Macabre stories are broadcasted without any filters, with details not relevant and witnesses with no connection to the story.

It happens very often that news like this become part of the Albanian television, for days and days without the smallest value. In Albania, this absurd situation has become a normal and everyday story and this is where I find my inspiration to react as an artist, as a filmmaker. It is sad to see a witness that stands in front of the camera that speaks more about himself and their dramatic life.

This story is an extraordinary event for the villagers. Set in a remote village, which survives only in migration money, the villagers find a way to reveal their characters, their mind-set and their relationships.

The movie starts with a terrible event. A gunshot is heard in the middle of the dark night. The next morning, the police and the villagers are at the crime scene. The first images of the movie will indicate a thriller-mystery movie, but unexpectedly the plot shifts from the crime scene to the absurd protagonism of the witnesses. The journalist, the camera, the TV chronic are an enthusiastic event in the village, the ambitious shepherd and the ending, which leads the characters back to their usual life will be shown through images which will stay true to the comic and absurd situation.

This short movie is a black comedy. The visual style of the movie is realism. The angles and the camera movements imitate television style and will stay true to news TV style.

The camera movements create a live and tangible atmosphere.

The editing dynamic is slow, with long shots and with little cuts. Everything intensifies after the body is found. The editing is rapid in the “fame” scene and as well as when the villagers come to pay their respects to the famous family. In the next morning, when the shepherd is now famous, the editing is slow, with long shots and with less cuts, as to help the atmosphere of the dull and routine rural life.

The music shows the pompous style of the television, but has a dramatic underline that hangs in the atmosphere of the village.

There are four professional actors in this movie, the bride, father in law, mother in law, and the journalist. The rest are all people of the village that we shot. They participated in the movie with enthusiasm, and it was wonderful to see their genuine reactions to a movie that was made only for them.