VERA DREAMS OF THE SEA (VERA ANDRRON DETIN) Virtual Screenings World Cinema

North American Premiere

Talent attending in-person screening: Director of Photography Sevdije Kastrat.

Following the virtual screening, watch a special conversation with director Kaltrina Krasniqi moderated by AFI Festivals Associate Programmer Cedar Sherbert.

Unassuming sign language interpreter Vera (Teuta Ajdini) lives a quiet life alongside retired husband Fatmir in their modest Pristina apartment. Happy to be a vessel for others to navigate the world, her hopes for her daughter and granddaughter’s future are intrinsically linked to the family’s newly valuable country house. But when her husband takes his own life and his cousin Ahmet begins insisting that Fatmir had promised him the rural home, Vera suddenly finds herself trapped in a deeply patriarchal culture where the word of men is final. Unyielding to increasingly violent pressure, Vera discovers how deep the corruption in men’s hearts can run, as well as the strength to stand her ground in this taut drama from director Kaltrina Krasniqi. –Cedar Sherbert