The six Albanian Burrneshas who tell their stories here want to decide for themselves how they want to live. They realised early on that the patriarchal society severely restricts their freedom. So they became Burrneshas and slipped into the social role of men in order to have agency, be independent and able to support their family economically, to escape forced marriages and harassment. And they have a lot of fun along the way, too. But breaking through gender barriers comes with a price. You stay a Burrnesha for life, sealed by an oath. The price of freedom is usually the renunciation of an openly lived sexuality, children and a family.
The impressive protagonists of this superbly photographed film show how much strength it takes to practise masculine gender stereotypes. Not all of them have enough energy to simultaneously assert and subvert clichés and male claims to power. For the new generation of feminists in Albania, the Burrneshas are role models, but also a warning. Because the goal of emancipation is far from achieved just because an avant-garde of courageous women manage to smuggle themselves into the heart of the patriarchy with a leap. If you are after the system, you must not copy the structures but abolish them.