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MARE NOSTRO

55 minutes, 2016
Director: Andrea GADALETA CALDAROLA (Italy)
Production: Andrea GADALETA CALDAROLA, Rosanna RIZZI (Italy)

Molfetta, a town in southern Italy, overlooking the Adriatic Sea.
Here the sea is not just a background for the tourist postcards – over the centuries the sea has shaped the town’s social ecosystem and economy through fishing and maritime commerce.
“Mare Nostro” weaves together the voices of fishermen, fragments of memory, into an oral history of a place: the port of Molfetta.

Andrea GADALETA CALDAROLA was born in 1979. He is a documentary director and editor. He also works as a film instructor.
His credits include three documentaries: “Mare nostro” (2016), “Destination de Dieu” (2014) and “Nomos” (2012).

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GAZA SURF CLUB

87 minutes, 2016
Directors: Philip GNADT and Mickey YAMINE (Germany)
Production: Little Bridge Pictures (Germany)

Trapped inside the “largest open prison in the world” and subject to the laws of war, the new generation of Palestinians is irresistibly attracted to the edge of their world, the beaches. Revolted by the occupation and the political stalemate, the surfers of Gaza recover their personal freedoms in the waves of the Mediterranean.

Philip GNADT studied at Stuttgart’s Hochschule der Medien or Media University. His graduation film, “Zwölf Seiten”, won the Audience Award at Karlsruhe’s Independent Days International Filmfest (IDIF) in 2010. He works as a director. With Mickey Yamine he has been involved in the “Gaza Surf Club” project since 2012.

Mickey YAMINE grew up in Cairo before going to live in Germany at the age of 18. He studied film production at Babelsberg University where he graduated with his final-year film “Tropic of Bear”. With Little Bridge Pictures, his production company based in Berlin, he has recently produced “Gaza Surf Club” (2016) and “The Last Compartment” (2016).

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BENVENUTI

54 minutes, 2017
Directors: Laura Auriole (France) and Annalisa Lendaro (Italy)
Production : CNRS Images (France)

Lampedusa: a rock in the Mediterranean. Surface area:20 km². One of Europe’s borders.
An Italian island now infamous as the destination for thousands of migrants fleeing wars and misery, men and women risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean.
For some the crucial border into Europe, but for others heaven-on-sea: turquoise waters, paradisical landscapes, easy-going culture all make it a popular tourist destination.
Between these apparently watertight worlds, which barely touch each other, ordinary life on the island goes on.
In this film, the inhabitants and its visitors breathe confidences or show off, reveal themselves or mask their feelings. Indirectly or frankly, they show the viewer insights about Lampedusa from within, its many contrasts and ambiguities. Shipwrecks and holding camps on one side, the dolce vita and traditional fishing on the other.
Journey to the heart of a militarized and beautiful island, actor and spectator in one of our century’s tragedies.

Laura AURIOLE was born in 1981. She graduated in anthropology (African Studies) and German Letters from the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. She first worked in journalism in Europe and Africa, before specializing in making documentary films, principally at Bordeaux University. Today, her approach as a writer and director of documentaries lies somewhere between social sciences, art and culture. In 2012 she made her graduation film “Mémoires”, about Bordeaux’ past as a slave city. “Benvenuti” is her first feature-length documentary.

Annalisa LENDARO is a researcher in political sociology at the CNRS. In particular, she works on migration and borders. In the light of the current political and migratory situation, she has turned towards educating people so as to de-compartmentalize scientific research in order to allow debate within and beyond the University precincts. Her CV consists mainly of publications and papers given at conferences and workshops. “Benvenuti” is her first documentary film.

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ATTENTION !

51 minutes, 2016
Director: Onur Bakır (Turkey) and Panagiotis Charamis (Greece)
Production : Damla KIRKALI, Onur BAKIR (Turkey)

Onur, a 32-year-old doctoral student, faces a dilemma: either he pays his exemption from military service, or he has to complete six months in the Turkish army.
To help him make his decision, he turns his camera towards his family and friends, who all give him conflicting advice on the ethical and political aspects of the choice he is about to make.
“Attention!” tackles a controversial subject with humour, while giving us an insight into what the Turks think about their own armed forces, one of the largest in the world.

Onur BAKIR is a doctoral student in the philosophy department of Boğaziçi University.
This first documentary, co-directed with Panagiotis Charamis, won the Best Documentary award at the 35th Istanbul International Film Festival in 2016.
Panagiotis CHARAMIS studied film at Kent University (UK) and then at Kingston University. Since then he has worked as director of photography and as director on short films, documentaries and commercials.

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NESSUNO CI PUO’ GIUDICARE

83 minutes, 2016
Director : Steve DELLA CASA et Chiara RONCHINI (Italie)
Production : Istituto Luce Cinecittà srl (Italie)

In post-war Italy, during the economic miracle, cinema continued to be the favourite leisure-time activity of Italians, as well as a truthful mirror of the changes taking place in the country.
Musical films, starring singers of the younger generation, show us this Italy in full transformation.
Born in 1953 in Turin, Steve DELLA CASA is an Italian film critic and artistic director of several festivals. He has also made some documentaries (“Perché sono un Genio! Le Tante Vite di Lorenza Mazzetti” 2016; “Flaiano: il Meglio è Passato”, 2010) and played minor roles in a few films.

Chiara RONCHINI was born outside Rome. She has worked in international co-operation, photography, design and documentary films, between Rome, Pristina and Barcelona. Currently she is a film editor and works in post-production. “Nessuno ci può giudicare” is her first documentary as director.

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JE DANSERAI MALGRÉ TOUT !

58 minutes, 2016
Réalisation : Blandine DELCROIX (France)
Production : French Connection Films (France)

“Je danserai malgré tout!” is about dance and the body. It’s about freedom. Our guides are Bahri, Sandra, Selma and Ahmed.
Everyone is determined to express the values ​​of freedom and independence as they encourage bodies to open up to dance. Their commitment is to provide the tools to build an open and critical Tunisia where everyone has a place. Where each body can feel free to express itself.
Speech has no place before the dancing bodies. Choreographic moments of suspended time, during which bodies free themselves from constraints. Say No to obscurantism.

Trained at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Grenoble and holding several post-graduate diplomas in social sciences (urban planning, cultural development, psychoanalysis), Blandine DELCROIX began her professional life in institutional culture before turning to producing live shows.
She has spent more than 15 years conceiving and developing creations, residencies and artistic events in the field of dance, music and theatre in Europe.
At the same time, she has a classical musical training which she still practises, as well as her writing: screenplays for dramas, short films and short stories.
She is currently in Tunisia co-writing her first feature-length fiction film.
In 2009, she went to Cairo to take part in a course in contemporary dance. It was the beginning of a long adventure which continues today with this documentary film, a coming-together of her many experiences.

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ALALÁ

77 minutes, 2016
Director : Remedios Malvàrez Baez (Spain)
Production : Producciones Singulares (Spain)

Alalá is an art centre for children where flamenco is used as a tool for learning self-expression. The inspiration behind the centre was well-known guitarist Emilio Caracafé and other musicians, who introduce us to this gypsy district, where flamenco can offer opportunities and transform society.

Remedios MALVÁREZ BAEZ has been a professional photographer since 1989.
Self-taught, she perfected her training in photography and cinema in Madrid, Barcelona and London. In 2010, she created the production company Producciones Singulares in Seville.
The short documentary “Silence” was her first non-commercial creation. It has won awards at several festivals. “Alalá” is her first feature-length documentary.

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A FOOTNOTE IN BALLET HISTORY ?

118 minutes, 2016
Director : Hisham Abdel Khalek (Egypt)
Production : So Freakantastik (France), H & O Productions LLC (USA)

The creation of classical ballet in Egypt, under the auspices of the State during the Cold War, is at the heart of an extraordinary saga, narrated here by its first pioneers. Prima ballerina Magda Saleh and her fellow dancers recall the founding of the first national ballet school, staffed with Soviet teachers – the early triumphs, collapse and renewed hopes over five decades.

Hisham ABDEL KHALEK is an Egyptian producer, director and screenwriter based in Paris. He has produced and directed films, opera and stage plays.
In 2002 he was artistic director for performances of Aida in Doha (Qatar) and in the shadow of the pyramids at Giza, Egypt. He has produced a series of operas and classical music concerts in Egypt, Syria, Dubai, France, the Netherlands and other countries.
In 2008, with Olivier Delesse, he created the French production and distribution company So Freakantastik and in 2014 the New York-based production company H & O Productions.

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NÉ À DEIR YASSIN

63 minutes, 2016
Director: Neta Shoshani (Israel)
Production: Rotem FARAN (Israel), Artline Films (France)

The film tells the story of an Arab village called Deir Yassin In 1948 it was conquered by the Israelis after a very controversial battle, then in 1951 transformed into a government-run psychiatric hospital.
Today, access to Deir Yassin is forbidden, even to the photos of it indexed in the archives of the Israel Defence Army.
It is a stain on Israel’s past, which no one likes to talk about.
The film presents the history of Deir Yassin from the Israeli point of view – the mass exodus of Arab residents as a result of the occupation, considered now to be the beginning of the Palestinian refugee problem.

 

Born en 1980 in Jerusalem, Neta SHOSHANI lives and works in Tel-Aviv.
Graduate in visual communication from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design (Jerusalem), she has worked as producer and editor in the news department of the Israeli radio network, Army Radio (Galatz).
As a director her film credits include: “House Call” (3 documentaries, 2016), “Handa Handa 4” (2013, 60 minutes) and “Between Her and Him” (2013, 60 minutes).

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L’HÉRITAGE DE FRANCO, LES ENFANTS VOLÉS D’ESPAGNE

70 minutes, 2016
Director: Inga BREMER (Germany)
Production: Soilfilms, BR Bayerischer Rundfunk, Arte (Germany)

How can a person construct her life when she has been robbed of her identity and her past?
At the death of her adopted father, Alicia discovered she was sold at birth by her biological mother. She appealed to a police forensic expert, Jaume. Armed with samples of the young woman’s DNA, Jaume criss-crossed Spain in the footsteps of other children abducted from republican families during the Franco period – an estimated 30,000 of them, though this figure may well be too low. Traffic in children continued until the 1980’s, and bringing a real fortune to some. A documentary about a sordid state issue, still taboo, and about fighting against the law of silence.

Inga BREMER was born in Germany in 1980.
After travelling abroad, she began her studies at a drama school in Cologne, later joining Baden-Württemberg’s Film Academy, where she became a film-director in 2004.
In 2010 her film “Goodbye Kutti”, was nominated for the German Human Rights award. After a year studying at the International Film School in Cuba, she made “Perfect Girls”, financed by MFG Baden-Württemberg.
Inga is one of four founding members of the production company Soilfilms, through which she produces and directs documentaries, commercials and drama films.