Canadian Premiere
Shaban and his wife Hatixhe make their living as dairy farmers in a rural Kosovan village. When an act of familial betrayal upends their livelihood, they are forced to move with their three young daughters to the capital, where Shaban’s wealthier brother-in-law helps Shaban find work. However, the arrangement comes with complications of its own, and as pressures mount, Shaban is pushed to the brink.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in Sundance’s world cinema competition, Shame and Money is an intense, unsparing look at the relentless rhythms of a hypercapitalist society. As in the films of Ken Loach and the Dardenne brothers, director Visar Morina trains his empathetic camera on those most affected by the ground-level consequences of rampant globalization. Featuring fluid tracking shots and a jagged, nervy soundtrack, the film depicts the harsh toll of a world where survival and money are synonymous.
Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Sundance 2026
Astrit Kabashi, Flonja Kodheli, Kumrije Hoxha, Fiona Gllavica, Alban Ukaj
Germany/Kosovo/
Slovenia/Albania/
North Macedonia/Belgium
2026
In Albanian with English subtitles
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Credits & Director
Producer
Fabian Altenried, Sophie Ahrens, Kristof Gerega, Pia Hellenthal, Visar Morina
Screenwriter
Visar Morina, Doruntina Basha
Cinematography
Janis Mazuch
Editor
Joëlle Alexis
Production Design
Burim Arifi
Original Music
Mario Batkovic
Visar Morina
Visar Morina was born in Pristina, Kosovo, and graduated in film direction from the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne in 2010. His features and short films have premiered at the Berlinale, Sundance, Locarno, and Karlovy Vary and won several awards, including the German Film Award for Best Screenplay, Best Director at Karlovy Vary, and the Heart of Sarajevo at the Sarajevo Film Festival. Morina was listed as one of Variety’s 10 Europeans to Watch in 2020.
Filmography: Babai (2015); Exile (2020)
Photo by Maria Asselin-Roy
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