Olimbi – Mother Courage is a hybrid feature documentary that combines intimate testimony, archival footage, and theatrical reconstructions to tell the story of Olimbi Hoxhaj. After her husband’s death in 2003, she discovered that she and three of her children were HIV positive in Albania, where no treatment was available. Facing stigma, institutional neglect, and patriarchal silence, Olimbi became a leading voice for HIV patients’ rights.

The film intertwines her lived experience with the making of a theatre play in which Olimbi and her children act as co-authors and co-directors, guiding actors through rehearsals that reconstruct her past. This process transforms theatre into a space of remembrance and trauma research.

Exploring women’s rights, healthcare access, and the fight against HIV stigma, the film portrays Olimbi’s resilience and maternal strength, while revealing how one woman changed Albanian history and secured treatment for thousands.