PALACE OF YOUTH

Caught between visibility and obscurity, Kosovo’s underground music scene is the voice of a post-war generation grappling with isolation in a half-recognized nation.

SYNOPSIS

In the heart of Prishtina, Kosovo, a burgeoning subculture finds refuge from political strife in music. Suada envisions a community space for young musicians despite her family's doubts. Lekë faces the barriers of visa restrictions to follow his ambitions as a guitarist in France. Edona, once a celebrated child star, returns to music after years of silence, confronting the shadows of her past. Through the lens of the American filmmaker and framed by the reflections of her partner Donat, a fellow Kosovar musician, Palace of Youth is a portrait of the challenges and creative defiance of a post-war youth striving to be heard above the conflict-ridden headlines.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

I first came to Kosovo in 2019 while expanding the research on my award winning thesis about cultural movements under ex-communist societies. While the young country did not have an archive, it had a pulsating scene born out of the ashes of an undocumented, underground resistance. I befriended a group of artists my age, following their growth remotely throughout the pandemic until I returned in 2022 to begin researching the underlying issues of isolation, identity, and recognition for the post-war generation. Within a few months, I moved to Kosovo full time and narrowed the focus of my lens onto three artists whom I would spend the next year documenting the trajectory of their music and lives. As we grew closer and I myself became a part of the scene, learning the local dialect of Gheg-Albanian, the relationship and contradictions between our countries and our dreams colored the backbone of the films’ question: how can young people find a voice in a world outside their control? I believe together we captured, through a collaboration between their music and my camera, a link between our generation caught in transition. 

– Maddie Gwinn

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