THE NORMAL LINE

( LA VOIE NORMALE )
73 minutes, 2018
Director : Erige SEHIRI (France, Tunisia)
Production : Nomadis Images (Tunisia), Les Films de Zayna (France), Akka Films (Swiss)

The Tunisian railwaymen who work on Line No. 1 call it The Normal Line, because it is the only one in the country built to international standards. Ironically, it is also the most neglected and in the worst condition. Accidents are common and the passengers and employees who use it risk their lives.
Driving the locomotives, Ahmed, Afef, Issam, Abee and Najib are actors in and witnesses of the difficult process of transforming Tunisian railways and, by extension, post-revolutionary Tunisian society as a whole.
Each of them tries his best to find a new place in a society which is struggling to create a democratic way of life. Denouncing incompetence and corruption, this film celebrates dignity, hope and resilience

Erige SEHIRI is a producer and director. In 2012 she was part of a collective project “Family Albums” with the documentary “Le Facebook de mon père“, winner of the Coup de Coeur Award at the 2012 Montpellier Cinemed Festival. In 2013 she co-founded the Tunisian media company inkyfada and spent several years filming the Tunisian railways. Her feature film “The Normal Line” premiered in 2018 at the Visions du Réel festival in Switzerland. In parallel, she took over the management of the film production company Henia Productions.

>> FIRST FILM

ON THE OTHER SIDE

( EN FACE )
61 minutes, 2019
Directors : Collectif Cinemakhia (France, Greece)
Production : Les Batelières Productions (France)

Cape Korakas, in Lesbos, faces Turkey. Every day, thousands of migrants arrive on the beach there and walk to the village of Kleio, the first leg of their European journey. Whether rejecting them or identifying with them, the arrival of “those from the other side” disrupts the village and its inhabitants, whose ancestors, themselves refugees, also arrived by sea from “the other side”. Past and present intersect, giving rise to amazing mirror games.

CINEMAKHIA is a collective of eight film makers, Greek and French, wanting to offer a different way of seeing people in exile and to do this work collectively. The word Cinemakhia, a composite of the Greek words “cinema” and “symakhia” (alliance), summarizes the objective they have set for themselves: to show that it is possible to make a film with several people, in a non-hierarchical way, pooling their objectives and skills. Coming from disciplines as diverse as sociology, anthropology, psychology, history and economics, Cinemakhia members do not all belong to the world of documentary film making. This collective energy and plurality of approaches proves that other ways of collaborating exist.

The members of the collective are: Lucia BLEY, Clémence BOITEUX, Marguerite CHADI, Raphaël MARCHOU, Mary MICHA, Eva PANTAZOPOULOU, Eden SHAVIT and Mélissa VASSILAKIS.

>> FIRST FILM

WA DRARI

71 minutes, 2019
Director : Fatim-Zahra BENCHERKI (Morocco)
Production : Ali n’ Productions, 2M (Morocco)

The makers of “Wa drari” followed the Moroccan rap duo Shayfeen for twelve months. Starting from nothing, Shobee and Small X have managed to impose their outspokenness, uniting millions of young people in a conservative country which keeps them on the margins of society. The film opens as they arrive at a crossroads in their career: either to try their luck in Europe or remain in Morocco, without resources and misunderstood forever.
Through this intimate portrait, Shobee and Small-X show us young people struggling to overcome national stagnation, in a country where dreams die

Born in Casablanca in 1985, graduating with a Master in Industrial Purchasing and Innovation, Fatim-Zahra BENCHERKI changed course in 2015 to work in audiovisual media. She joined the production company Ali n’Productions and is responsible for the group’s content development strategy for television and feature films. In particular, she worked on the release of Nabil Ayouch’s “Much Loved” and “Razzia” and produces mini-documentaries for in the European Union and the think-thank Les Citoyens. In 2016, she launched a subsidiary for the group, a talent incubator, Jawjab, to create digital and web content. She ran the company until 2018. As part of the incubator, she created a programme allowing women’s voices to be heard more easily, and then, as part of that, she produced a web-series which had an international impact, “Marokkiat“. In keeping with her work on gender, she produced the campaign “Because I’m a Man” for UN Women, on the positive masculinities in North Africa. Fatim-Zahra is also the author of the documentary series “Moroccans of the future“, produced by 2M, of which “Wa drari” is one episode.

>> ART, HERITAGE AND CULTURES

OSCURO Y LUCIENTES

82 minutes, 2018
Director : Samuel ALARCÓN (Spain)
Production : Tourmalet Films (Spain), Marmitafilms (France), RTVE (Spain), France 3 Nouvelle Aquitaine (France)

The past is buried in a collective memory, under our feet.
This is why we turn the earth, looking for relics and bones. Fragments of ourselves which express who we were, who we are. Where we come from.
“You are a major painter whose life is well-known, but whose death, though eventful, is known by few.
I will be thorough with the facts, rigorous with the evidence and cautious with the conclusions to tell the story of your death, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes.“

Samuel ALARCÓN was born in Madrid in 1980. He is a film-maker.
He directs feature-length documentaries, essays and artistic videos. Since 2007 he has also worked with Spanish National Radio and since 2013 has had his own programme: El Cine Viene (Radio 5), a slot for independent and experimental Spanish cinema, in favour of cultural diversity.

>> ART, HERITAGE AND CULTURES

LONG LIVE KING DAVID

59 minutes, 2018
Direction and Production : Ido ZAND and Yael LEIBOVITZ ZAND (Israel)

Is the biblical story of David’s kingdom true? A question which divides the academic world and, as so often in the Holy Land, now involves the world of politics and religion, stirring up much passion. The film tries to provide an answer by making some unexpected discoveries.

Ido ZAND was born in 1976 in Hadera, Israel.
On leaving his film editing school he began working in the television industry. After a few years, he returned to Tel Aviv University to study history and film. He has edited several documentaries and is a director on Israel’s main investigative programme. His films deal with Jewish history and Israeli current affairs.

Yael LEIBOVITZ was born in 1975 in Rehovot, Israel.
Leaving Tel Aviv University, where she trained in cinema, she discovered film editing, working particularly in documentaries, music videos and television programmes. She began writing scripts and making her own films. Through them she frequently explores Jewish history past and present, the world in which she grew up.

>> ART HERITAGE AND CULTURES

LETTER TO THEO

63 minutes, 2018
Director: Elodie LÉLU (France)
Production : Iota Production (Belgium), Blonde (Greece), WIP Wallonie Image Production (Belgium), ERT (Greece)

“Letter to Theo” is about the return of filmmaker Théo Angelopoulos to his native Greece – a country battered by endless economic crises, overwhelmed by a constant influx of migrants and yet committed to preserve its dignity despite all the odds.

Elodie LÉLU was born in Brittany in 1982. Having studied Art History, she enrolled at INSAS, the state-run Belgian film school. She is fortunate to have known Greek director Théo Angelopoulos very well, since he ran her film course. She works in both documentary (she has directed a series about artists) and drama.

>> ART, HERITAGE AND CULTURES

THE TRAIL OF RATKO MLADIC

100 minutes, 2018
Director : Henry SINGER et Robert MILLER (Great Britain)
Production : Sandpaper Films (Great Britain), Peggy Pictures (Great Britain), Sant & Usant (Norway)

What or who does international justice serve? In 2012 a historic trial began in The Hague, that of General Ratko Mladić, who led the siege of Sarajevo and the genocide of Srebrenica. For five years the two filmmakers did a huge job editing hundreds of hours of footage — giving voice to the victims but also to the lawyers of Mladić and his relatives.

Henry SINGER is one of the most critically acclaimed documentary filmmakers in the UK. He has won or been nominated for all the major British documentary awards, including BAFTA, the Royal Television Society, the Grierson Award, Broadcast, Broadcasting Press Guild, Televisual and Emmy. His films have been screened at festivals around the world. Among his award-winning feature films are “The Falling Man” about the photograph of someone who jumped, or perhaps fell, from the World Trade Center on September 11^th, “The Untold Story of Baby P” about the death of a child of seventeen months in North London, and “The Blood of the Rose” on the brutal murder of filmmaker and conservationists Joan Root in Kenya.

Robert MILLER started his career in a human rights organization before moving on to documentary. He has over fifteen years of experience in developing and producing documentaries for the BBC and Channel Four, collaborating with Henry Singer in “Last Orders“, “On Cold Friday in November” and “The Betrayed Girls“. His television series on the care of the elderly, “Protecting Our Parents“, was described by The Radio Times as one of the most important programmes on British television and has been nominated for the Broadcast, Royal Television Society and BAFTA awards.

>> MEDITERRANEAN MEMORY

ORAN, THE FORGOTTEN MASSACRE

57 minutes, 2018
Réalisation : Georges-Marc BENAMOU et Jean-Charles DENIAU (France)
Production : Siècle Productions (France), avec la participation de Toute l’Histoire et France Télévisions

Oran, July 5^th 1962. As jubilant Algerians celebrated independence, the party turned to tragedy. 700 inhabitants, Europeans and Muslims, who had chosen to move to France were massacred within a few hours. The remorseless hunting down of victims, which began mysteriously, lasted all day, under the passive gaze of the French army, confined to their barracks on the orders of President de Gaulle.

Georges-Marc BENAMOU created Siècle Productions in 2009.
Working mainly with France 3, France 5 or Arte, Siècle Productions makes between five and ten films a year, with the documentary being its main pillar. A few of its productions: “Robert Mitchum, le mauvais garçon d’Hollywood“, “Mai 68, les coulisses de la révolte“, “Brigitte Macron, un roman français“, “La Traversée“, “Nos années Julien Clerc“.

Jean-Charles DENIAU is a documentary film maker and author.
Among his latest films: “Balladur Chirac – mensonges et trahisons” (2016, 60 minutes), “Profession Homme d’État” (2016, 52 minutes), “Ethiopie, le pays des origines” (2016, 80 minutes), “Il était une fois dans l’ouest – Le roman noir des Hauts de Seine” (2015, 60 minutes), “Karpov-Kasparov, deux rois pour une couronne” (2014, 53 minutes).

>> MEDITERRANEAN MEMORY

CAMORRA

70 minutes, 2018
Director : Francesco PATIERNO (Italy)
Production : Todos Contentos Y Yo Tambien, Rai Cinema, Rai Teche (Italy)

The rise of the Camorra in Naples shaped the evolution of the city. From smuggling in its early days to the powerful organized clans of today, the Camorra has developed its own para-military power. Through the use of archival footage and news bulletins, “Camorra” shows the true face of one of the Mafia’s most powerful organizations.

Francesco PATIERNO was born in Naples in 1964. He is director, scriptwriter and author. Having studied architecture, he became creative director at an advertising agency. He then directed many TV shows.
He has made several films, including: “Pater Familias” (2002), “Il mattino ha l’oro in bocca” (2007), the television series “Donne assassine” (2008), “Cose dell’altro mondo” (2011), “La gente che sta bene” (2014), “Naples ’44” (2016), “Diva!” (2017).

>> MEDITERRANEAN MEMORY

XALKO

100 minutes, 2019
Directors: Sami MERMER (Canada, Turkey) and Hind BENCHEKROUN (Canada, Morocco)
Production : Les Films de la Tortue (Canada)

In the middle of Turkish Anatolia is a Kurdish village, Xalko. Filmmaker Sami Mermer, who, like so many others, has emigrated to the West, returns to visit the place where he was born. He finds Xalko populated mainly by women, with just a few men — those who remained.
With co-director Hind Benchekroun he introduces us to the “flip side” of migration. Thanks to the filmmakers’ close relationship with the people they film, “Xalko” chronicles a way of life threatened by the exodus, while also being a poignant portrait of strong women living without men.
This return to source is also an opportunity to confront together the guilt of those who left, and the bitterness – often expressed with humour – of those who have worked hard to keep the life of the village afloat.

Sami MERMER, born in Turkey, and Hind BENCHEKROUN, from Morocco, have been working in the world of cinema for several years. Together they directed the documentaries “The Box of Lanzo” (2006), on homelessness in the United States, “Turtles do not die of old age” (2010), about three old men in northern Morocco, and “Callshop Istanbul” (2015), about immigrants passing through Istanbul. This film has been shown in several festivals, winning numerous awards: the Grand Prix 2M and the Fidadoc Human Rights Award in Agadir (2016), Best Documentary at the Duhok Film Festival and at the Golden Tree Film Festival. It was also nominated for Best Editing and Best Documentary at the 2017 Gala-Québec Cinéma.

>> MEDITERRANEAN ISSUES