In Kosovo, before the Balkan Wars erupt, Gesim, a cigarette-seller and father, suddenly leaves home. Ten-year-old Nori sets out for Germany, going through pitifully dangerous encounters in a harsh, stark country, only to find his unwelcoming daddy. Babai is a rare film from Kosovo, with universal themes of immigration and the father-son relationship as two axes. Rather than the usual hardships, humility and criminal aspects of immigration, this film digs into a more personal level of the impact east to west migration exerts on the family.The boy’s desperate pursuit of his dad, not to be abandoned, makes the viewers think about the problem’s seriousness anew. Perhaps the father’s reality forced him to flee from a patriarchal Kosovo society, only to face another dystopian reality and then the wounded son’s emotional despair. Taken together it creates a heartbreaking multi-faceted tragedy. This debut work, winner of Best Director Award at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, emphatically announced the birth of a new filmmaker. (RHEE Soue-won)