Target: £12,000
36 days left
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Aim: Return to Kosovo is a a documentary about a young Albanian boy. We are seeking to tour the film and pay for production costs.
RETURN TO KOSOVO
A documentary in 47 minutes.
In September 1998, as the Kosovo war was raging, British journalist Julius Strauss came across five-year-old Besnik Deliu, who had just survived a massacre that killed 23 members of his family including his mother.
Julius developed a bond with Besnik, and visited him regularly, bringing food, toys and, later, a child psychologist to try and help him recover from his mental trauma.
More than 20 years later Julius is living in the Canadian wilderness, where he fled looking for peace after years reporting on the world’s frontlines. He receives an unexpected message from Besnik asking that they meet again.
Julius is initially a little reluctant but he returns to Kosovo and together they visit the scene of the massacre where Besnik finally hears the full truth about what happened on that terrible day.
The documentary was filmed over two years between 2022 and 2024. We are now seeking to pay for production costs and tour the film.
We feel that the film provides an important historical document and an inspiring story of human resilience in the face of terrible loss.
It is one of the most important films to emerge from the Kosovo war in 1998-1999 and includes extensive archive footage filmed by Vaughan Smith, the founder of Frontline News, including the only footage shot of the attack on the Jashari compound, which sparked the war.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 25th August 2025 at 7:59pm