SHAME AND MONEY
Kosovar filmmaker Visar Morina won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema - Dramatic competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival with this biting critique of capitalism and the degradation caused by the relentless pursuit of money. When his greedy younger brother betrays their family and absconds with their livelihood, dairy farmer Shaban (Astrit Kabashi) and his wife, Hatixhe (Flonja Kodheli), flee to the city of Pristina with their three daughters to eke out a living. Hatixhe’s sister Adelina (Fiona Gllavica) and her businessman husband, Alban (Alban Ukaj), offer assistance, but the stark contrast between the two families proves treacherous in its own ways. The shame that grows in Shaban day after day as he tries to provide for his family in an unjust and cold world slowly reaches a shocking boiling point from which he cannot return. Through this devastating and profoundly moving drama, Morina dares to question the supposed prosperity of current-day Kosovo; one breathtaking scene in particular takes shots at the United States’ allyship. Shot by cinematographer Janis Mazuch in an intimate manner where the camera regularly follows the characters from close behind, and featuring exquisitely understated performances from Kabashi and Kodheli, SHAME AND MONEY reflects the wealth crisis gripping not just former Eastern bloc countries but the entire globe. –Javier Chavez
DIR/SCR/PROD Visar Morina; SCR Doruntina Basha; PROD Fabian Altenried, Sophie Ahrens, Kristof Gerega, Pia Hellenthal. Germany/Kosovo/Slovenia/Albania/North Macedonia/Belgium, 2026, color, 129 min. In Albanian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 129 Minutes
Opening Date: Sunday, December 06, 2026
Genre: Thriller, drama
