critiQs

Gjama

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Documentary

📜 Overview: “Gjama” is a rarely practiced mourning ritual that was performed by Albanian men throughout the centuries. By shouting specific phrases and acting out a strict choreography, it is a way of paying respect to the deceased but also overcoming grief and pain over the loss of a loved one. Through the documentation of the re-enactment of the ritual, Zgjim Elshani seeks to recover fragments of the practice in the communities where this form of collective grieving is still a way of overcoming loss. By doing so, the project intends to rethink collective grieving and what it means to publicly display emotions in a male-headed society.

🌏 Languages Available: Albanian

📆 Date Released: 2021-10-08

⌚ Running Time: 9 mins

⭐ Vote Average: 4.0