A Crooked Tree Still Offers Shade.

Dajori (meaning “mother” in Romani) tells the powerful story of Marie (45), a mother of three who lives with her husband Enrico (50) in Varnsdorf, an area grappling with poverty and social exclusion. Marie decides to help her younger sister, Iveta, who has become homeless with her nine children. Anabel (2) and Samuel (9) end up being fostered by Marie and Enrico. Over the next three years, the film intimately follows Marie’s efforts to give these traumatized children the love and stability they need, while raising them according to her ideals. Samuel, however, enters his turbulent teenage years and begins to test Marie's resolve.

This observational documentary, directed by Martin Páv and Nicolas Kourek, was filmed over three years in Varnsdorf in northern Bohemia. It began in 2021 when journalist Markus Pape alerted A2 Magazine about the sudden eviction of Roma families in Varnsdorf. The magazine’s editorial staff includes one of the directors, Nicolas Kourek. Páv and Kourek were intrigued by the topic and went to Varnsdorf, where Marie and Enrico unexpectedly found themselves housing 17 people. Marie and the directors hit it off right away, and she took them in as one of her own. Through their close relationship with the family, Páv and Kourek captured the challenges and resilience of Marie and Enrico, who try to raise their foster children as well as their own. In a world where minorities are often held solely responsible for societal disruptions, the film sheds light on the deeper, systemic issues at play, while staying grounded in the personal, everyday experiences of Marie and Enrico’s family.