Workers’ Wings
2024 | 19' | Documentary
Milazim, Fatmir and Liridon are manual labourers injured at work. What comes after?
How do they feel? What are their hopes? What does the future hold for them?
Every line on their faces is sculpted by life itself.
In contrast, a system filled with danger and injustice looms overhead.
CREDITS
| Writer / Director: | Ilir Hasanaj |
| Montage: | Enis Saraçi |
| Cinematography: | Vigan Nimani |
| Research: | Dafina Halili |
| Korab Mala | |
| Mentor Mahmuti | |
| Producer: | Ilir Hasanaj |
| Arvan Berisha | |
| Sound Design: |
Enis Saraçi |
| Music: |
Vigan Nimani |
| Sound Mix: |
Simon Walker |
| Graphic Design: |
Urtina Hoxha |
| Production: | Unseen Films |
AWARDS
Jury Statement Rotterdam International Film Festival:
A testimony to the labour of working class people, made with an empathetic and gentle tone, this film portrays tragic events in the lives of individuals whose scars and dignity are beautifully amplified by an honest and humble cinematic style.The film’s formal elegance and restraint are impressively infused with subtle and captivating aesthetic qualities – chromatic, rhythmic and haptic.
Jury Statement Guanajuato International Film Festival:
For a savvily crafted narrative, accompanied by intuitive and striking cinematography, that gives voice and sheds light on workers around the world and the toll of labor on their bodies.
Jury Statement from Cinehill Film Festival:
How does one survive in a system when the system itself has no interest in the individual? This question looms over this intricate and poetic documentary in which the director gives a voice and visibility to the unheard in a country marred by crude economic mechanisms. For its bold visual style and tender portrayal of broken bodies, that evokes both empathy and introspection, the award for Best Short Film goes to “Workers’ Wings” by Ilir Hasanaj.
Jury Statement from FeKK:
Among the many intriguing documentary experimental films in the FeKK BAL regional programme, the topic of neglected workers’ rights, told with the use of an elaborate visual approach, resonated strongly with us. The gaze on broken older male bodies and the consequences of a neo-liberal capitalist system on the individual showcases the flaws in our society. The FeKK Grand Prix goes to “Workers’ Wings” by Ilir Hasanaj.
Jury Statement from Drama International Short Film Festival:
The Hellenic Parliament presents the “Human Values” award to a film that, through a poetic lens, portrays the lives of workers who have experienced accidents, beautifully capturing their struggles, fears, and hopes.
Jury Statement from Auteur Film Fest:
This is for the bravest film of the Brave Balkan Section. Standing out for its originality, its conceptual boldness, its radical stylistic pallet and technical mastery. This film is a challenging but highly rewarding combination of artistic form and important social content, which is evidently the work of a true auteur, from the first frame to the last. Our award goes to: Ilir Hasanaj for Workers’ Wings.
Jury Statement from FICDH:
The film stood out for its sensitivity, visual strength, and the powerful way it uplifts the voices of workers and their struggles.
Jury Statement from Psarokokalo Int. Short Film Festival:
This film presents a dignified, sensitive, and deeply revealing portrait of the working class. Its visual language is impeccable: beautifully composed images construct a narrative that speaks loudly about the often invisible, yet inevitable, consequences of capitalism on the human body. There is a constant and poetic tension between human and machine, between nature and extractivism.
The gray dust, the wear, the scars – these are not just visual details, but the imprints of a system that exploits both land and labor. What stands out most is the director’s ability to approach these realities with both aesthetic precision and respect. The film’s formal exploration – at once subtle and radical – reveals a refined cinematic sensibility. The sound design immerses us in a dense acoustic environment: metallic, repetitive, and oppressive. This auditory landscape does not merely accompany the testimonies – it deepens them, echoing the systemic violence behind every word and silence. This documentary is a poetic and urgent reflection on labor. For its aesthetic rigor, political clarity, and emotional resonance, my choice for Best Short Documentary goes to Worker’s Wings by Ilir Hasanaj.
FESTIVALS
REVIEW
Workers’ Wings focuses on three men – Milazim, Fatmir, and Liridon – who stare into the camera after suffering industrial accidents. These manual laborers from Kosovo, one of the world’s poorest countries, silently convey their experiences through their gazes. Director Ilir Hasanaj’s experimental documentary explores the hopes of these men and the harsh realities they face. The deep lines etched on their faces wordlessly testify to the weight of their lives, contrasting sharply with a system fraught with danger and injustice that elicits little sympathy. Through poetic imagery, the film depicts the harsh reality of the Balkans and pays tribute to the gentle, sincere, and dignified yet almost invisible human voices that fall victim to the machinery of capitalism. Hasanaj’s work is a powerful meditation on workers who are becoming “extinct” in the face of systemic challenges. The final shot of the film, embodying the metaphorical title Workers’ Wings, leaves a lasting impression, sealing the viewer’s experience with a poignant visual that lingers long after the film ends.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
It happened while I was working on my debut feature, “me dasht’ me dasht’ me dasht’” (To Want, to Need, to Love). I was in “Hackerspace”, a co-working community located near the top of a steady rise, where Prishtina’s Aktash neighbourhood merges seamlessly into Sunny Hill. The day was hot and still, perhaps so still that something was wrong. As I nipped out during a quick break in filming, heading in the direction of my favorite burektore, I heard a scream. As I got closer, I saw a man, probably in his 60s, lying in the road. Blood was coming from his head. And he continued to scream, non-stop, in agony.
The old man had fallen from improvised construction scaffolding, probably from a height of at least two to three meters — and he was badly injured. As I scanned around, I noticed that there was no helmet, nor any other workplace safety equipment, in sight.Meanwhile, a crowd had gathered, an ambulance had been called and we waited there, somewhat helplessly, for assistance to arrive. As we stood there in those long minutes waiting for the emergency crew, the air filled with the old man’s piercing cry, I decided I had to make a documentary film about these workers, who have an accident at work and find their lives changed forever. Sometimes it takes their whole life.
Over the years, reports of workplace accidents in Kosovo have increased; From 2021 – 2023, 763 accidents at the workplace were officially reported — and 33 deaths. But these figures are assumed to be just the tip of the iceberg. The real numbers must be much higher.
For a long time, this subject has been marked by inactivity and silence. Through this film, I want to give these people the voice they deserve; gentle, sincere and dignified — but also powerful.