Big in Gazi Baba
Big in Gazi Baba is a three-year observational coming-of-age documentary following Sadije (14) as she navigates the treacherous terrain between daughter and son in one of Skopje's most fragile neighbourhoods. In Gazi Baba, where the wounds of the 2001 ethnic conflict still bleed through institutions, this character-driven film unfolds as a meditation on identity, belonging, and the price of survival. Sadije is being raised as a 'modern sworn virgin' in the absence of sons, an ancient tradition granting her the rare privilege of entering male-only spaces to train as a wrestler alongside boys. Her mother says, "You're worth seven sons,". At the film's opening, she stands as the state wrestling champion, ranking third in the Balkans, the only Albanian girl on the Macedonian national team, wearing the flag of a country whose language she does not speak. The film reveals Sadije's fractured identity through the different faces she wears for different worlds. With her family, she embodies the dutiful provider, carrying the crushing weight of being the household's potential financial anchor. As her body changes during puberty, she skips meals, sweats in saunas, and faints before the European Championships weigh-in. The film’s dramatic arc is Sadije’s evolution from reluctant champion to emerging matriarch, structured around losses that paradoxically lead to self-discovery. When Sadije loses her state title to Bojana (15), she loses the only identity she has ever known. This defeat launches her into self-exploration of her femininity, while she wonders what kind of woman she might be allowed to become. In this rejection, she boldly renames herself 'Satko' (a male name) claiming the role of 'the boy' on her own terms.