Dragan, Zoran, and Rodoljub Jankovic live in Zabrdje, a womanless village in southern Serbia. These three brothers represent nearly half of the village population where only seven inhabitants hold down the fort in what was once a vibrant rural community. If the three brothers remain single, the village will disappear. Their plan is to marry women willing to put up with the tough living conditions in Zabrdje, but they have had no luck convincing neighboring Serbian women to join them. In nearby Albania, the situation is versed. With all the men leaving to work in Greece, a predominately female population remains, living in surprisingly similar conditions to those of our brothers – no running water, no telephone lines, no shoulder to lean on.
Some young guys play football on a field in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. A man waits for late-night customers at a gas station. An architect works in his office in Germany. These are all Ethiopians that live in Europe and meet up for a football tournament between teams of Ethiopians living throughout Europe. Where do they come from? What is their story? Why does this tournament carry so much importance? It’s a film about men and women recounting their life straddled between two worlds taking us back to some of the unappreciated facets of Europe. It’s a film that surprises, makes us smile, and certainly makes us think, far from the clichés about a “primordial” or “famished” Ethiopia… and a European “El Dorado”.
