Joshua Marston

The Forgiveness of Blood

The Forgiveness of Blood

American director Joshua Marston emerged in 2004 with the jolting, Oscar-nominated Maria Full of Grace, about a young Colombian woman working as a drug mule. In his remarkable follow-up, The Forgiveness of Blood, he turns his camera on another corner of the world: contemporary northern Albania, a place still troubled by the ancient custom of interfamilial blood feuds. From this reality, Marston sculpts a fictional narrative about a teenage brother and sister physically and emotionally trapped in a cycle of violence, a result of their father’s entanglement with a rival clan over a piece of land. The Forgiveness of Blood is a tense and perceptive depiction of a place where tradition and progress coexist uneasily, as well as a dynamic coming-of-age drama.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 2011
  • 109 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • Albanian
  • Spine #628

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • New high-definition digital transfer, approved by director of photography Rob Hardy, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
  • Audio commentary by director and cowriter Joshua Marston
  • Two new video programs: Acting Close to Home, a discussion between Marston and actors Refet Abazi, Tristan Halilaj, and Sindi Laçej, and Truth on the Ground, featuring new and on-set interviews with producer Paul Mezey, Abazi, Halilaj, and Laçej
  • Audition and rehearsal footage
  • Trailer
  • PLUS: A new essay by film writer Oscar Moralde

    New cover by Jason Hardy

Purchase Options

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • New high-definition digital transfer, approved by director of photography Rob Hardy, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
  • Audio commentary by director and cowriter Joshua Marston
  • Two new video programs: Acting Close to Home, a discussion between Marston and actors Refet Abazi, Tristan Halilaj, and Sindi Laçej, and Truth on the Ground, featuring new and on-set interviews with producer Paul Mezey, Abazi, Halilaj, and Laçej
  • Audition and rehearsal footage
  • Trailer
  • PLUS: A new essay by film writer Oscar Moralde

    New cover by Jason Hardy
The Forgiveness of Blood
Cast
Tristan Halilaj
Nik
Refet Abazi
Mark
Zana Hasaj
Bardha
Erjon Mani
Tom
Luan Jaha
Zef
Çun Lajçi
Ded
Veton Osmani
Sokol
Selman Lokaj
Kreshnik
Kol Zefi
Shpend
Sindi Laçej
Rudina
Ilire Vinca Çelaj
Drita
Esmeralda Gjonlulaj
Bora
Elsajed Tallalli
Dren
Ibrahim Ymeri
School director
Servete Haxhija
Mara
Arlind Lleshi
Loran
Alfred Lisi
Fatmir
Edmond Pepkolaj
Police captain
Geg Zefi
Afrim
Pjeter Noshi
Besim
Gjon Lula
Cen
Isuf Duraj
Gjergj, the barkeep
Sabri Haxhija
Lekë, the shopkeeper
Xhevdet Shima
Mr. Skendaj
Gjin Basha
Hasan Pema
Arben Buhaj
Burim
Fatmir Shabaj
Horse buyer
Credits
Director
Joshua Marston
Written by
Joshua Marston
Written by
Andamion Murataj
Produced by
Paul Mezey
Executive producer
Janine Gold
Executive producers
Eric Abraham
Executive producers
Domenico Procacci
Executive producers
Hunter Gray
Executive producers
Tyler Brodie
Coproducers
Andamion Murataj
Coproducers
Gwen Bialic
Associate producer
Andrew Goldman
Director of photography
Rob Hardy
Production design
Tommaso Ortino
Editor
Malcolm Jamieson
Music
Jacobo Lieberman
Music
Leonardo Heiblum
Costume designer
Emir Turkeshi
Set photography
Anila Jaho

Current

Welcome to Albania
Welcome to Albania
The Forgiveness of Blood is set in a place that will be unfamiliar to most viewers. American director Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace) traveled to an isolated, mountainous area in northern Albania to film this tale of a strange and real phenomeno…
The Forgiveness of Blood: How Things Work
The Forgiveness of Blood: How Things Work

After breaking out with Maria Full of Grace, filmmaker Joshua Marston visited a strange new land with persistent and deadly traditions.

By Oscar Moralde