Original Title: Kthimi në Mal

English Title: Return to the Mountain

Production Phase: Pre-Production

Completion: 2026

Budget: € 1,400,000.00

Estimated Length: 120 minutes

Director: Antoneta Kastrati

Screenplay: Antoneta Kastrati

Producer: Casey Cooper Johnson, Antoneta Kastrati

Production Company: Crossing Bridges Films (KS), Artalb Film Productions (AL), Miramar Film (Bg) Lumina Pictures (CH)

Synopsis

The journey of two inseparable Albanian brothers, Fatos and Beni, set against the haunting backdrop of the Damned Mountains in Kosovo during the political turmoil of the 1990s. Their childhood is filled with climbing trees, exploring caves, and dreaming of the world beyond—until the escalating conflict forces them to flee the Yugoslav Army draft. Seeking refuge in the mountains, they spend a life-altering year where their bond with each other and nature deepens. When they finally leave their hiding place, the brothers return to Prishtina, where they join the underground parallel school system—Beni continuing his poetry, and Fatos pursuing theater. As the oppression of Milosevic’s regime worsens,  they are forced apart: Beni joins the guerrilla resistance in the mountains, while Fatos remains in the city, using theater as his form of defiance. When tragedy strikes, Fatos must make an impossible choice between his pacifist ideals and saving his brother in the Damned Mountains.

Producer’s Contact: 

Casey Cooper Johnson

M: +13236330826
E: [email protected]