The foreign film Hive departs from a familiar world for most and plunges into the aftermath of the Kosovo War of 1999 and the world of Fahrije (Yllka Gashi). The audience is placed in the middle of the story’s turmoil, as Fahrije must support her family—an aging father-in-law, her son, and her teenage daughter—despite the absence of her husband, presumably from the war. To help her family survive, Fahrije struggles to start a home-grown business making ajvar for a town supermarket.
While she strives to make ends meet, she also endures backlash from her community for her choice, which pits her against a patriarchal society that disapproves of her actions to start a business. As the story unfolds, the audience experiences Fahrije’s fight not only to succeed with her business plans, but also her struggle to raise her family, maintain her dignity, and make peace with the absence of her husband.
Fahrije’s continual battle against the male-dominated society predominates the film, reminding the viewer that, despite the progress for women’s rights across the past century, there remains an antipathy against women breaking traditional gender roles. Fahrije chooses to get a license to drive so she can gather supplies and sell her ajvar.
When she takes the exam, she is the only woman testing; throughout the film, she is the only woman seen driving a vehicle at all, as driving is a man’s work. Fahrjie’s endurance against the town gossip, petty misdemeanors, and vandalism throughout the film highlight her strength against adversity, a strength that is tested to the limits.
Furthermore—and most importantly—this film involves the deep trauma of survivors of war. Fahrije tries to make sense of her missing husband and how to establish a life without him for their family. When researchers try to help her resolve the case of her missing husband, she tells them, “It gets resolved for you; for us, it never will.”
While the war in Kosovo may seem resolved on paper for most of the world, the film states at the end that 20 years later, over 1,600 people are still missing in Kosovo, and those who remain must live with the trauma of the past. Hive is a powerful depiction of endurance through suffering which brings its audience into a world of unresolved trauma, all based on the true story of Fahrije Hoti, who started her own business with 50 widowed women.
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What kind of film series would this narrative fit in?
Sundance Film Festival Winners, 2021
What kind of film collection would this title be suitable for?
International films; films on post-war trauma
What academic subjects would this film be suitable for?
History; International film (Albanian)