LE TRÉSOR

The Treasure

12 minutes, 2017
Director: Marisa LAFUENTE ESTESO and Néstor DEL CASTILLO (Spain)
Production: De Cabo a Rabo S.L. (Spain)

Little Vera is about to leave with her grandfather in search of a treasure hidden in a wood. In the middle of the trees, the girl discovers the true
meaning of the trip. A film full of tenderness.

Marisa LAFUENTE was born in Madrid in 1970. She is a multimedia and transmedia artist, working mainly on non-fiction forms of narrative.
A graduate in journalism at the Complutense University of Madrid, she has specialised in script-writing at the International Film School of San Antonio de los Baños in Cuba. She made “Platicando” (2005), a documentary about the life of immigrants through their telephone conversations, which has won several awards.

Néstor DEL CASTILLO was born in Madrid in 1966. He is founder and manager of the production company De Cabo a Rabo S.L., through which he has made and produced many advertising campaigns for Spanish television, for businesses and for the Spanish Ministry of Culture.

HOMMAGE À KOBANÉ

(Homage to Kobani)

13 minutes, 2017
Director: Soran QURBANI (Iran)
Production: Nakba FilmWorks, Edinburgh College of Art (United Kingdom)

A trip through the city of Kobanî, the administrative centre of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, commonly known as Rojava,
narrated by a 19-year old fighter, Narine. In a letter to her mother, she reveals her daily life in the ruins of a city shattered by war and deserted by its inhabitants, from whom she unearths memories buried under the rubble.

Soran QURBANI was born in 1983 in Mahabad (Iran). Aged 19 he left for the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan. After studying archaeology, he taught himself film-making before joining the Doku Workshops. He made a film about excision, “Les larmes d’Eve”, which has been shown in several festivals, and works for the television channel of an Iranian opposition party, the PDKI. Having related his journey in “Soran fait son cinéma”, he was granted refugee status by the United Kingdom, where he is studying documentary film-making at Edinburgh University

DYING FOR EUROPE

17 minutes, 2017
Director: Nikos PILOS (Greece)
Production: Nikos PILOS, Goethe-Institut Athen (Greece)

In “Dying for Europe”, the largest tide of migrants since the Second World War is shown through fragments of personal stories. Constructed as a trilogy, this harrowing film sheds light on the strength and hope of those who, daring to dream of a better life in Europe, are ready to sacrifice their own.

Nikos PILOS is a photo journalist who has won many awards. He currently lives between Athens and Belgrade. He has travelled extensively documenting war, natural disasters, poverty, socio-economic struggle and cultural change. He covered historical events such as the overthrow of Ceauşescu in Romania, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the conflicts in the Balkans and the war in Iraq. More recently, he has covered anti-government protests in Turkey, the rise of nationalism in Europe and the current refugee crisis. His work appears regularly in international newspapers and magazines such as the New York Times, Stern Magazine, Die Zeit, NRC Handelsblad, Newsweek Japan, Time, USA Today, Polka Magazine, Zreportage.com, and other media.

DR FATMA

13 minutes, 2018 Director: Narcisse YOUMBI (Cameroon)
Production: Institut Français d’Algérie (Algeria)

13 minutes, 2018

Dr. Fatma, an Algerian gynaecologist obstetrician takes us into the difficult medical universe of young mothers or mother-to-be who come to her surgery.

Narcisse YOUMBI is a young Cameroon director passionate about images and digitally-generated special effects. Having graduated in management at the University of Douala, he moved back to his first loves: comic strips and animated film. In 2010 he made his first animated film, “Le chasseur et l’antilope”, which won him several awards and recognition in Africa, Europe and Asia. Currently he is working in Algeria, directing his own production company and following his passion by directing and producing advertising films, industrial films, and now films for the big screen.

CARMEN

16 minutes, 2017
Director and Production : Natalia PRESTON (Germany)

CARMEN
16 minutes, 2017
Director and producer: Natalia PRESTON (Germany) “Carmen” is a poignant, honest portrait of a woman who follows the dictates of her heart, uprooting from Venezuela and going to Madrid, where she comes up against harsh reality. The man she followed has disappeared, her days are difficult, long and lonely. She makes her living by singing in Madrid’s subway stations: the underground network becomes her world, Venezuelan music her faithful companion. Carmen shares her hopes and her songs with passers-by. The melodies remind her of her children, of unattainable love and the life she left in Venezuela. Despite the difficulties and her pain, her love of music gives her strength and dignity, driving her to be an example, an ambassador of humanity, to those who cross her path.

With a Degree in Russian from London and a Master in business management from Chicago, and having worked as consultant for businesses linked to the media such as IBM, Bertelsmann and Hamburg Media School, Natalia PRESTON decided to devote time to some of her own personal projects, among which are managing language tours in Moscow and a German bakery in California. For several years she has been passionate about documentary films. She obtained a Master in documentary and experimental film at the University of Madrid and is currently at FilmArche, the Berlin film school.

NAMRUD (TROUBLEMAKER)

95 minutes, 2017
Director : Fernando ROMERO-FORSTHUBER (Austria, Spain)
Production : Soleil Film (Austria)

Born a Palestinian in the state of Israel, the musician Jowan Safadi is famous throughout the Arab world. He is not afraid to tackle taboo subjects, and this has made him a highly controversial figure: under investigation by the Israeli police for “incitement to terrorism”, his most recent tour in Jordan ended with him being arrested by the authorities. Currently Jowan has a new challenge: his 15-year-old son Don has moved into his home, so Jowan now has to assume his responsibilities as father.

Fernando ROMERO-FORSTHUBER was born in Seville in 1983, his father Spanish, his mother Austrian. At the age of 17 he went to live in Vienna where he worked in cinema. Two years later he went to Israel for the first time, working with Palestinian musicians as producer / director of their video clips. In Austria he continued working in video clips, cinema and advertising. Most recently he worked on news reports for Austrian television companies ORF and ATV, particularly in Syria.

DES MOUTONS ET DES HOMMES (OF SHEEP AND MEN)

79 minutes, 2017
Réalisation : Karim SAYAD (Swiss, Algeria)
Production : Close Up Films (Swiss), Norte Productions (France)

Alger, Bab el Oued, 2016. Habib, 16, dreams of becoming a vet. But when he stops school, he decides to train a ram named El Bouq, hoping to make it a champion of sheep fighting. Samir, 42, has no dreams other than to survive the everyday difficulties of his life by selling sheep to earn some money.
As Eid approaches and the whole country is preparing to sacrifice a sheep, Samir has a unique opportunity to increase his profits. But for Habib, it’s another story. Will El Bouq become a champion? Or is it destined for a less glorious end?

Karim SAYAD was born in 1984 in Lausanne of an Algerian father and a Swiss mother. Having obtained a Master’s in International Relations from the Institut Universitaire des Hautes Études Internationales et du Développement in Geneva, he began taking an interest in making documentary films. His first short film “Babor Casanova” was given its first screening at Locarno in 2016 and has since been shown in more than twenty festivals, winning awards at such prestigious festivals as DocLisboa, Festival Dei Popoli and the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. “Des moutons et des hommes” is his first long documentary

BIZERTE. A SPIRAL TALE

57 minutes, 2018
Direction : Michele COPPARI and Francesca ZANNONI (Italy)
Production : Cosenude Media Projects (Italy)

Bizerte, Tunisia. A port where the African landmass suddenly drops into the Mediterranean. The most northerly city in Africa, just 250 km from Italy.
Rich, fertile land, and for centuries a strategic port. A naval base with barracks and prisons. Bizerte, “Little Paris” during the French colonisation, is a city taken hostage by groups of radical Islamists.
Bizerte is Samar, a girl who trains for the next boxing match and wants to leave, Mohamed, writer, who has spent half a life in prison, Khaled, a Shiite craftsman and political opponent, preparing for action, Dhia and his cinema, his revolution.
All accomplices and victims of a story that returns under the banner of violence. The city weaves the plot of the story, she is also accomplice and victim, sweet and ruthless.

Michele COPPARI and Francesca ZANNONI are two Italian directors. They founded Cosenude Media Projects, a collective involved in several fields such as video production, photography, communication and cooperation. In 2010, they began their career as authors, directors and editors for several television channels such as Rai 2, Rai 5, Babel TV, producing short documentaries and stories. Their latest film “La Montagna di Ilio”, a story of mountains, friendship and adventure, filmed in the Dolomites, was selected at the 66th Trento Film Festival.

THREE THRESHOLDS: BIRTH-MARRIAGE-DEATH

61 minutes, 2017
Director : Asuman ATAKUL FIRTINA (Turkey)
Production : TRT Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (Turkey)

Birth, marriage and death are three stages of life which every community in the world celebrates. Rites organised according to specific cultural codes mean the individual feels part of a group at the important moments of his life.
This documentary looks at Turkey’s rapidly changing ancestral customs, traditions and rituals.

Asuman ATAKUL FIRTINA was born in Ankara, Turkey, in 1960. Since 1998 she has worked for TRT, the Turkish public broadcaster. She has produced and directed many television programmes, particularly documentaries, among them: “Matrimonial Stories” (2005), “A few days in town” (2008), “Notes from a trip” (2009) and “Three thresholds: birth-wedding-death” (2017).