Blerta Basholli’s “Dua” Explores Kosovan Women’s Resilience Through a Morose Coming-of-Age Tale

Blerta Basholli’s second feature film, Dua, is a coming-of-age drama that explores the lives of Kosovan women during the late 1990s. The film, which has been featured at the Cannes Film Festival, serves as a reflection on the intersection of adolescence and the systemic pressures of a region under conflict.

The project follows Basholli’s 2021 debut feature, Hive, which won awards at the Sundance Film Festival. While her first film established her focus on the Kosovan experience, Dua is more closely tied to the director’s personal history. Basholli draws from her own experiences as a girl coming of age in the shadow of the Kosovo War.

According to a review by Variety, the film is a conflicted narrative that undergoes a tonal shift as the story progresses. While it begins as a coming-of-age drama, the atmosphere gradually becomes more morose, mirroring the impact of the surrounding war on its characters.

By centering the narrative on the experiences of women in the late 1990s, Basholli utilizes the film to examine the emotional and social toll of the conflict. The film focuses on the tension between personal growth and the restrictive, often bleak environment created by the war.