"The Forgiveness of Blood" Q&A

Winner of Best Screenplay awards at the Berlin Film Festival and Chicago Film Festival, the powerful and richly textured second feature from talented director Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace) focuses on an Albanian family caught up in a blood feud. Nik (Tristan Halilaj) is a carefree teenager in a small town with a crush on the school beauty and ambitions to start his own internet café. When his father takes an unauthorized shortcut through a neighbor's land, the seemingly minor dispute escalates to a major confrontation and murder. With his father on the run, Nik becomes an unwilling prisoner inside his own house, for fear of retaliation if he is caught outside. His younger sister Rudina (Sindi Laçej) is forced to drop out of school to take over their father's delivery business to support the family. Working with non-professional Albanian actors and a local co-writer, Marston boldly contrasts antiquated traditions with the lives of the young people whose future is put at risk by them. (Fully subtitled)