WATCH: What would you sacrifice for a chance to meet the stranger you’ve been flirting with online?

How much would you give up for a chance to finally spend time with someone you’ve been flirting with online?

That’s the question at the heart of 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 peers

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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. Now, it will receive a limited theatrical release in LA and NYC on February 9, before arriving on digital VOD platforms on February 13—just in time for Valentine’s Day.

In a new director’s statement, Nushi opens up about how first seeing queer representation in movies changed their life, and how they hope their film can do the same for others—especially as one of the rare LGBTQ+ films from Kosovo:

“I want the Kosovar/Albanian youth, who have very limited national queer films, to see themselves portrayed on the big screen by someone that speaks their language,” Nushi shares. “I made a film about my personal experience because I learned that first love, as beautiful as it can be, during adolescence it can also be very blinding… I’m telling this story for those who are still behind those closed doors going through adolescence, hoping they see this film and feel less alone just like I did years ago.”

You can watch the U.S. trailer for I Love You More below, courtesy of Dark Star Pictures:

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