Story

BESA is an original TV series inspired by true events.

An epic plot that tells the story of two families connected by an unfortunate event which will change their lives forever. The story is set in the complicated everyday life of the Balkans, which has always been ethnically, religiously and culturally diverse. BESA reveals the importance of a given word, and through interesting plots and authentic characters, talks about a deeply universal topic - what a man is ready to do to protect his family.

SEASON 1
Uros Peric (Radivoje Raša Bukvić), an ordinary man from Belgrade, is going on a business trip to Montenegro, where he has a car accident. A young girl, Besiana (Elizabeta Brodić), tragically dies. When Uros wakes up in the hospital, he finds out that she is the daughter of a notorious Balkan "drug boss" Dardan Berisha (Arben Bajraktaraj). This tragic event triggers a chain of plots that will forever change the lives of the main characters in the series. Referring to the old code "blood for blood", Dardan forces Uros to kill 5 people for him. Dardan gives him BESA - a solemn and holy oath - that only after "committing" these five murders will he save his family from revenge. The Interpol team led by Petrit Koci (Milos Timotijevic) is investigating the case of Dardan Berisha, but also the murders committed by Uros Peric, whom the police do not suspect. However, Koci is the fifth and one last murder Uros must commit, to secure his freedom.

SEASON 2
The second season begins three years after the first, in Estonia, where Uros Peric and his family are in the witness protection program after testifying against "drug boss" Dardan Berisha. Uros's testimony took Dardan to prison, and provided Petrit Kocija with a promotion at Interpol, as well as a high position and a comfortable life in Vienna. Dardan is in jail. After the death of the clan's founder, Skender Berisha, Dardan's son Driton returnes to the Balkans with the intention of taking over the "family business". His main motive is to get a revenge on Uros Peric and his family for the death of his sister, but also the betrayal of his father. Upon his return to the Balkans, Driton enters into a serious conflict with his father, because he denounces the tradition and disregards the rules that have been always been a reference, for his father, Dardan. He dishonors BESA (holy oath) and organizes the assassination of the Peric family in Estonia. Uros is the only survivor, and he returns to the Balkans to avenge the murder of his son and wife.

Dardan Berisha

Arben Bajraktaraj

Leader of a Kosovo Albanian drug cartel and the most powerful criminal in Southeastern Europe, Dardan Berisha is an old-school mafia don. Whilst mercilessly brutal to his enemies, he is not a sadist. In his mind, what he does is all about business and honor. He doesn’t hate his foes, they are merely obstacles to be overcome dispassionately. When his daughter is killed, all hell breaks loose and Darden loses his calm and detached pragmatism. He wants revenge and is hell-bent on destroying anyone connected to her death. As time goes by Dardan is increasingly adamant of not passing down the business to his sons, and does everything in his power to send them away from the criminal milieu. The passing of his uncle Skender Berisha, the lingering wish of his older son, Driton, to avenge the deaths of his mother and sister, finally come to the forefront with Dardan being incapacitated to control him. Driton Berisha returns to the Balkans with the intention of running the Berisha clan, predominantly motivated by revenge. The conflict between father and son escalates when Driton disregards tradition and his fathers’ explicit orders.

Known for: Taken, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, A Shelter Among Clouds, Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix...

Uroš Perić

Radivoje Raša Bukvić

An ordinary and honest guy whose only goal in life is to provide a comfortable life for his family. He loves his wife Marija, and the family they created together, his children are the center of his universe. After a tragic car accident in Montenegro, where Uroš was on a business trip, he wakes up at a hospital to realize a girl was killed in the accident. The girl was the daughter of Dardan Berisha, a Balkan narcobos leader whose life turns into a seething discourse for avenging the death of his daughter. To buy out the lives of his loved ones, Uroš must do unspeakable things for Dardan, which include the worst sins known to human kind. Uroš transforms from an ordinary law-abiding citizen, into a man who does the unimaginable for the love of his family. He is tormented by the fact that he’s become a killer. Following a twist of fate, Uroš now lives in Estonia with his wife and son. He has the status of a protected witness, but he is unhappy and haunted by guilt because of the situation he brought his family into, all with the intention of protecting them. Besa that Dardan had given him, for the buyout of the lives of his loved ones, has been broken. An attempt at the assassination of the Perić family left Uroš as the only survivor. His life is hanging by a thread, but he has one aim, and one aim only. Go back home and set things straight.

Known for: Taken, A Good Day To Die Hard, The Transporter, The Outpost...

Petrit Koci

Miloš Timotijević

Head of Interpol for Europe. He comes from a mixed marriage of a Serb and an Albanian, which marked his life in his youth. He never belonged to any country, and he went through a lot of suffering since his father was killed. Driven primarily by personal revenge, but also by great effort and professional engagement, his whole life was focused on one single goal, the arrest of Dardan Berisha. After succeeding, he accomplished a great thing in his career, was appointed to a senior position, moved to Vienna, and began a quiet family life with Vera, his love from a young age. The assassination of Perić family awakens old ghosts in him, which threaten to destroy him mentally, calling into question everything he has achieved.

Known for: Chernobyl Diaries, Humidity, In the Land of Blood and Honey, The November Man, Besa, The Singer, The Family, South Wind...

Luka Jovanović

Milan Marić

A young criminal from Belgrade, who fought his way up the business ladder through a painful and bloody flight of steps. He grew up in an orphanage, and was adopted by his mentor Mima, who sexually abused him at a young age. At first a decoy, he was used as a bait for Una with an aim to exert extra control on the Perić family, however, Luka succumbed to his emotional side and fell in love with her. After Mima’s death, the strain on their relationship was made easier, and they managed to form a household together. Happily ever after is not the way to describe them, notwithstanding, his love for Una is above everything else. Because of that, on the one hand, he is ruthless and brutal towards his enemies, but on the other hand, he is a caring father and husband, because he wants to give them everything he did not have as a child. Luka is the man of the drug distribution, he is the connective tissue between Iljir Sokolji and the drug market. That comes at a high price, especially as with his promotion, ghosts from the past resurface in his life, seeking answers.

Known for: Dovlatov, Toma, Hide and Seek, Besa, Civil Servant, Humidity...

Driton Berisha

Florist Bajgora

Son of Dardan Berisha. He was left mute after an attempt at the assassination of his father, however after a series of complicated surgeries, he managed to regain his speech. Abusive, unscrupulous, reckless…are all understatements in showing the essence of Driton’s character. He is the typical criminal of a new generation who ignores tradition and moral values. He is only interested in power and money. With the help of his new hires, who are ignorant to Dardan’s Berisha clan, but who rather side with Driton, he manages to eliminate his father’s associates and anyone else standing in his way of getting the revenge for the mortal disintegration of his family.

Known for: Enemy of the House, The Land Within Me, Bloodlands, Gangs of London, 4 Pills at Night, Boys feels...

Iljir Sokolji

Tristan Halilaj

The son of Agim Sokolji the late leader of the Sokolji clan. Educated at the best colleges in Switzerland, where he was born. Manners of a true gentleman, highly intelligent and multilingual. His serious business network proselytized his influence to an international scope. The other side of him that has been liberated by his father’s death sees a covert sadist, with a strong appeal to sexual kink. His manhood has been growing increasingly accentuated once he took over the Sokolji clan. A nuanced criminal, who sees crime exclusively as a business, engages in business without emotions, with a clear goal of great profits and investments throughout the Balkans. He is a class above all the others in his environment: a superior diplomat, educated, ruthless, emotionless, and an absolute leader. With a penchant for fine things in life, he seeks amusement in the pain of others, namely that of his competition.

Known for: Flying Circus, My lake, Disco-funeral, Adelina, Besa, Bota, The Forgiveness of Blood...

Una Perić

Milica Gojković

The daughter of Uroš Perić. In her twenties, she carries immense pain, more than ordinary persons would amass through a lifetime. She is a victim, and a witness of the way her life post reupholstered due to her father’s unfortunate relationship with Dardan Berisha. She was raped, impregnated and beaten, at the same time in the duration of her relationship with Luka. After she loses her mother and brother, she finds the only security in her love with Luka. She blames her father for all the things that happened to her family, and she doesn’t want to see him. In all of the unfortunate circumstances, she transforms from a rebellious teenage girl into a mature in a glimpse of a moment. The ultimate dilemma of her life is the uncertainty who is the father to her son Vid: Luka, or her rapist?

Known for: Black Sun, After the Winter, Bad Blood, Besa, Hide and Seek, Emergency Exit, Žigosani u Reketu...

Divna Dukić

Hana Selimović

Inspector of Interpol, recently Head of operations of the Southeast Balkans. Petrit’s mentorship helped her cement herself as a powerful detective, who is well respected in the police circles. She, however, morally surpasses him, because her approach to her work is not principled in revenge, but in her strong sense for justice. In her personal life, she is a single mother, who raised her nine-year-old daughter Vanja on her own. She is now facing a custody battle with her powerful husband, who is not as interested in the kid, but rather in making Divna’s life worse. She is punctual, intellectually precise, honest, with a strong set of values and an absolute dedication to the system, and her job. She has troubles juggling her private and professional life. When she loses her daughter in court, she becomes suspicious of everything she believed in up to then, and begins to reconsider her life principles. This encourages her to take Uroš’s side in his fight for revenge.

Known for: The Absurd Scam, The Disobedient, Tajkun, Zero, From Love, Besa, White White World...

Igi

Relja Popović

Luka’s back street kid who made it in the business. He started off as his street informant, uncovering the identities of the men who raped Una. Securing his position in Luka’s life, his power grows with the drug business advance. Igi meets Ana Sokolji, who hooks him on coke and sex. In parallel, the police get on him, and pressure him into taking a side, Igi becomes a slave to his anxiety, emotions, and the dilemma whether he should rat Luka out to the police and protect himself, or remain loyal to the man who made him?

Known for: Ordinary People, The Parade, Besa...

Ana Cimilji

Kamka Točinovska

Jon's sister, officially a gallerist. In reality, she is the front woman for the Sokolji clan in Belgrade, She has an expensive taste, and a penchant for young men, a vacancy Igi fills out to ’upgrade’ her time in Belgrade. She is dominant, and determined to find out who killed her brother, Jon. Ana is willing to do anything humanly possible to find the murderer and avenge his death.

Known for: Three Days in September, Besa, M and Kaymak...

Lara Pirsch

Katarina Čas

Head of Internal Control at Interpol. While on the one hand she is dealing with a complaint filed against Divna Dukić by her ex-husband, on the other, she is dealing with an information leak which resulted in the death of the Peric family, who had a protected witness status. Among the people she interviews is Petrit Koci, with whom she once had an ‘unfinished’ love affair, that gets refreshed by the circumstances in which their lives collide once again.

Known for: The Wolf of Wall Street, The Guard, Danny Collins, Paradise, Besa...

Vera Koci

Milica Zarić

Vera is a successful and independent woman, a professional banker, who’s been living in Vienna, with her husband, Petrit Koci. She is kind and caring and deeply in love with him, her loyalty to their marriage is rock solid and consistent, and although they had many difficulties in keeping their relationship harmonious, she always managed to go beyond their differences and focus on the love between them. Even so, with his work becoming increasingly complicated, Vera becomes lonely, distrustful and worried that his dark side is once again at the forefront of their relationship. Notwithstanding, they are trying to have a baby, and when they finally manage to get pregnant, a twist of fate steps in…

Known for: Together, Almost Ordinary Story, The Cordon, Tajna Vinove Loze, Besa, Žigosani u reketu, Hide and Seek...

Ljah Bajrami

Mensur Safciu

Hashim's twin brother, from Switzerland, who came to Montenegro and offered his allegiance to Driton Berisha, under the premise that he wanted to atone for the betrayal that his brother committed against Dardan. As a proof of his loyalty, he organizes the assassination of the Perić family. Fearless, arrogant and patronizing to his enemies, he gains Driton's trust and becomes his right hand, along with Flavio. As the plot thickens and the relationships become more tense, the viewers discover Ljah's other side, and true motives for joining the Berisha Clan.

Known for: Falco, Zana, Civil Servant, The Brave, Besa, Skanderbeg...