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Aga, a young Kosovo Albanian boy with a missing father, lives in a house with five women, all of them victims of sexual or domestic violence.

He manages to save the life of one of them, arriving just in time to prevent her from committing suicide. As a dramatic afternoon and evening unfolds, the five women’s stories are told, exploring the realities of an excluded and marginalised part of Kosovo’s society.

This is the scenario of ‘Aga’s House’, the upcoming film by Lendita Zeqiraj, an award-winning Kosovo director who said she wanted to explore the human side of the suffering of women who were sexually assaulted during the 1998-99 war or subjected to domestic violence.

“The stigma is one of the things that kills them, mostly. In Kosovo there are many victims of sexual violence who suffer their own drama silently,” Zeqiraj told BIRN in an interview.

The director, 46, who is the maker of nine short films and documentaries, explained that social prejudices add another layer to such women’s suffering.

“There are thousands of raped women and we only have two or three who have gone public to speak out. Why is this? Because their families have not accepted them and have not supported them. The environment outside families is even harsher, so there are multiple victims,” Zeqiraj said.

“Female victims of sexual violence have no support. They continue to suffer that trauma of wartime brutality from which they have never been recovered. There was a generation of children who have seen horrible scenes and have grown up with this trauma,” she added.

Confronting prejudices

The director on set with the cast of ‘Aga’s House’. Photo: Atdhe Mulla.

The scenes in her film are not dramatic, but the stories are, as they concern a subject that remains highly sensitive – and not only in Kosovo. As well as the stigma surrounding rape, Zeqiraj said that she also wanted to confront the patriarchalism and prejudices that further burden the lives of victims.

“As a society, we have not dealt too much with this kind of thing. Sexual violence has not been dealt with so much, even in art,” she explained.

Her film is highly topical in Kosovo. Last year, after a two-decade struggle for recognition, the government gave wartime rape survivors the official status of war victims, enabling them to receive a monthly pension of 230 euros.

In October, a Kosovo Albanian woman gave a televised interview about her experience as a rape victim during the war, and about her unsuccessful struggle for justice in court, becoming the second woman in the country to speak publicly about her experience.

Zeqiraj said she has already been getting positive feedback about ‘Aga’s House’ ahead of its premiere.

“The first voices of critics have been very encouraging. I expect people will find themselves in this film; it is a reflection our daily lives,” she said.

The film represents a sketch of Kosovo over its three last decades as well as giving voice to women who have survived conflict-related and domestic violence.

“It is not only about offering emotion,” Zeqiraj explained. “It is also about making people feel their reality and pain, at least for only few minutes.”

Read more:

Pioneering Kosovo Rape Victim Relives Battle for Justice

The Enduring Agony of Wartime Rape in Kosovo

Kosovo Urges Wartime Rape Survivors to Register