Synopsis

This poetic and clever black comedy deals with three patients from a mental institution who all of a sudden regain their liberty after the Kosovo War ends. Realising that both the Serbian military and the nursing staff are gone, Kukumi, Mara and Hasan find themselves wandering aimlessly like lost children on a journey of self-discovery through the destroyed country. They want to meet all kinds of people and love to travel by train. They long for love and happiness and dream of sleeping with somebody for the first time after all those years. However, trying to satisfy their wishes and elementary human needs turns out to be a quite difficult task as they encounter a number of obstacles. People laughing at them and making fun of them is only one of many more to come. When they finally arrive at Hasan’s brother’s village, Kukumi, Mara and Hasan don’t feel welcome at all. Quite the contrary: people are seriously afraid to catch their "contagious" mental diseases.

The film – a touching metaphor about freedom and a highly successful combination of alleged hopelessness and real optimism – was awarded amongst others at the film festivals in Sarajevo and Venice. Kukumi is the first movie from Kosovo since the end of the war in 1999 and the director Isa Qosja’s first one in seventeen years.

Guests

Isa Qosja

Director Kukumi
Director Three Windows and a Hanging