‘Hive’ photo by Alexander Bloom
Alumna Blerta Basholli’s debut feature film and Sundance-winner Hive is now opening theatrically in the U.S.
Hive, which is now an official entry for the Oscar International Feature category, is the most awarded film in the history of Sundance's World Cinema section, winning Grand Jury Prize, Directing Award and Audience Award.
Outside the festival circuit, Basholli’s film has received rave reviews. The Hollywood Reporter called it “an engrossing, utterly classic tale of overcoming adversity” that “should launch (filmmaker) Basholli’s career with a bang.” Indiewire wrote how it “prompts us to realize that part of the tragedy of a generation’s menfolk being decimated by war is that society at large loses the progress and enlightenment that the best of them would have promoted.”
SYNOPSIS – Hive is a searing drama based on the true story of Fahrije Hoti (Yllka Gashi), who, like many of the other women in her patriarchal village, has lived with fading hope and burgeoning grief since her husband went missing during the war in Kosovo. In order to provide for her struggling family, she pulls the other widows in her community together to launch a business selling ajvar (roasted red pepper spread). Together, they find healing and solace in considering a future without their husbands—but their will to begin living independently is met with hostility.
Hive will open theatrically in the U.S. at Film Forum in New York on November 5 and in Los Angeles at Laemmle’s Royal Theatre on November 12 with rollout to select cities across the country.
Visit Film Forum for more.