SHAME AND MONEY
Directed by: Visar Morina (Exile, Babai)
Cast: Astrit Kabashi, Flonja Kodheli, Kumrije Hoxa, Fiona Gllavica, Alban Ukaj
Written by: Visar Morina, Doruntina Basha
Produced by: Fabian Altenried, Sophie Ahrens, Kristof Gerega, Pia Hellenthal, Visar Morina
Production Company: Schuldenberg Films
Release year: 2026
Synopsis:
A couple in their 40s live with their extended family in rural Kosovo making a modest living on their farm. Following a familial dispute, their livelihood is lost. They are forced to move to Pristina where the pressure to provide for their family weighs heavily on the parents as they do their best to find work and a place to stay. A journey into a hyper-capitalist society begins.
Genre: Drama | Country: Germany, Kosovo, Slovenia, Albania, North-Macedonia, Belgium | Language: Albanian | Duration: 130 min
"A Keenly Observed, Sharp-Edged Portrait of a Kosovo Family Divided by Class"
“Intricately observed domestic dynamics keep the drama textured and humane”
The 13 Best Movies of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival
Guy Lodge - Variety
”…it unfolds as deeply empathetic and engaging”
”...retains a humanity that should help it resonate with audiences who have supported the films of Ken Loach and Stephane Brize”
”Mario Batkovic enhances their sense of disorientation with an urgent, haunting score that incorporates traditional folk music”
Allan Hunter - Screendaily
“Shame and Money casts a piercing, sorrowful gaze at the ground-level effects of globalization.”
"...attuned to every held breath and hopeful, wary or wounded glance of its two leads, Astrit Kabashi and Flonja Kodheli, who deliver performances of exquisite understatement in a story of dwindling hope and mounting tension.”
THR Film Critics Pick the Best of Sundance 2026
Sheri Linden - The Hollywood Reporter
“...more accessible than your average superhero movie.”
“...reminded of the work of the Dardenne Brothers, or Mike Leigh”
Bilge Ebiri - New York Magazine / Vulture
”A stand-out of the world cinema narrative section”
Jordan Raup - The Film Stage
“Shame and Money is undoubtedly an early critical standout of the 2026 Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Competition”
“In his second feature to compete at Sundance, Visar Morina takes a razor-sharp blade to pierce the veil of our ultra-transactional late-stage capitalist present”
“Shame and Money will resonate strongly with anyone who has personally had to fight to survive – or who has seen family and friends do so.”
Olivia Popp - Cineuropa
“Shame and Money gets to the cold heart of the punishment the dignity of the working class endures.”“shocking and enigmatic”
The Film Verdict - Kevin Jagernauth
“There isn’t a single false beat in director German–Kosovan filmmaker Visar Morina’s anti-capitalist venture “Shame and Money.” This is the kind of austere yet hard-hitting film that reveals the apathy of a system without relying on melodramatic speeches or explanatory dialogue. Morina’s film is a confident, smart, and tightly calibrated work”
Robert Daniels - Roger Ebert.com
