WATCH: What would you sacrifice for a chance to meet the stranger you’ve been flirting with online?
I Love You More, the upcoming feature debut from emerging Kosovar filmmaker Erblin Nushi.Nushi—who identifies as queer and gender non-binary—based the film on their own story, coming of age in Kosovo, a small predominantly Islamic country in southeastern Europe where they frequently felt isolated from their peersSubscribe to our daily newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.For the better part of the past year, shy Kosovar teen Ben (Don Shala) has been involved in a romantic entanglement with someone named Leo—but it’s a relationship that, thus far, has only existed online.Despite that, Ben is in the throes of first love, and he spends most of his waking hours engaging in pillow talk with Leo, daydreaming about the day they finally meet.
Though Leo lives in Germany, he’s planning to finally come visit in a month’s time.Ben’s been keeping it a secret from everyone—his family, his best friend—out of fear over how the rest of his small, conservative community might react.
And an unexpected wrench is thrown into the upcoming rendezvous when his mom learns she’s won the “Green Card lottery,” meaning Ben and his family will soon be moving to America and starting a new life for themselves.But Ben’s not ready to move—not yet.
If they leave Kosovo, he might not ever have the opportunity to meet Leo again. Longing for love and connection, Ben puts he and his family’s dreams on the line and struggles to come forward with his truth.I Love You More made its world premiere at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival in 2023, before hitting the international festival circuit this past fall.
