AU NOM DE LA MER

(In the Service of the Sea)

52 minutes, 2021
Director : Jérôme et Caroline ESPLA (France)
Production : Via Découvertes Films (France), 13 Productions (France), France Télévisions

The film is a journey to meet people committed to protecting the Mediterranean.
From the Italian border via Corsica to Toulon, in groups or alone, women and men, young and old, employees or volunteers, they are all committed to taking concrete action. They are guardian angels, they are protectors, they are healers, they are whistleblowers, they are educators, they are inventors, they are lovers of nature and its biodiversity. They are all at the service of the sea.

Passionate about the marine world, Jérôme ESPLA began working as an underwater camera operator in 1998 and then moved on to directing documentaries. He has directed more than thirty, most of them on this theme, including “Génération Grand Bleu” shot with Jean-Marc Barr on the 30^th anniversary of the cult film “Le Grand Bleu”. His documentary “Mediterranean”, produced in 2018, is an ode to marine life, combining an animal documentary with a poetic narration.

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YAHIA LE RESCAPÉ

(Yahia the Survivor)

29 minutes, 2019
Director : Lassaad HAJJI (Tunisia)
Production : Lassaad HAJJI (Tunisia), Al Jazeera Documentary Channel (Qatar)

His boat sank in the Mediterranean. The whole crew perished. He is the only survivor. The camera follows him as he decides to relive this miracle and talk about the dramatic twists and turns he has experienced.

Having left the University of Sciences, Lassaad HAJJI trained in video techniques (sound and image) in various Tunisian post-production companies. In 2009, after more than eight years experience in editing, he began making documentaries with Cinétéléfilms. “El Kontra” was his first documentary feature (Special Award of the Douz Doc Days jury), followed by “Abdelaziz Thaalbi”, “Maluf” and “Sfax intramuros”. “Yahia the survivor” is his most recent film.

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PARADISE

20 minutes, 2020
Director : Mateo CABEZA (Spain)
Production : Habitat Films (Spain)

Ahmed, Taha – the intimacy between a father and his son surviving in a children’s hospital.

Born in Seville in 1986, Mateo CABEZA is a director, researcher and teacher of creative documentary film.
He trained in different film specialities: photography, editing, sound, production, artistic design. He has taken courses and workshops with artists and film-makers such as Víctor Erice, José Luis Guerín, Ricardo Íscar and Nicolas Philibert.

He is part of the generation of new Andalusian cinema, films which have a realistic and social character. They have won numerous awards and been shown in over twenty countries.

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LA NAPOLI DI MIO PADRE

(The Naples of My Father)

20 minutes, 2020
Director : Alessia BOTTONE (Italy)
Production : Alessia BOTTONE (Italy)
In collaboration with Istituto Luce Cinecittà (Italy), AAMOD – Archivio Audiovisivo del Movimento Operaio e Democratico (Italy), K-Studio (Italy)

Giuseppe used to stare at the horizon as if there was something liberating about it. His daughter Alessia, the director of this film, would often see him staring out the window like that, wondering what could attract his attention so intensely.
Giuseppe’s story revolves around the themes of exile and fear of the unknown, which bind Italy’s 20^th century migrants, cardboard suitcases in hand, to today’s migrants landing on the country’s southern coast. As the train devours the rails mile after mile, Alessia comes to understand what her father was thinking and seeing: his memories. The return to Naples becomes the opportunity to tell his life’s journey and thus discover her own origins. Because no matter how far we go, we always come back to where it all began.

Alessia BOTTONE is a director, screenwriter and journalist. She graduated in Institutions and Policies for Human Rights and Peace, and completed the Carlo Mazzacurati Master in Screenwriting at the University of Padua.
She wrote and directed a short film about the psychological violence suffered by women, “Violenza invisibile”, and two documentaries “Ritratti in controuce” and “Ieri come oggi”. In 2013 she published “Amore ai tempi dello stage” and in 2015 “Papà mi presti i soldi che devo lavorare?”. In 2017, she won several awards: the Claudia Basso Award for Journalism for the Pfas survey, the Alessandra Bisceglia Award for social communication and finally the Massimiliano Goattin Award for making a video survey about architectural barriers. In 2018, she was among the finalists for the Cesare Zavattini Award for a project using archival film creatively and the Luzzati Award for short films. “La Napoli di mio padre” is her first archival-based short film. It won a Special Mention at the Nastri d’Argento in 2021.

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MILLE NUITS ET UNE AUBE

(A Thousand Nights and One Dawn)

52 minutes, 2020
Director : Nasser BENABDERAHMAN (Morocco)
Production : Bingo Films (Morocco)
In coproduction with 2M (Morocco)

A Thousand Nights and one Dawn offers a poetic look at the life of Morocco’s night watchmen – combining poverty, wisdom and hope. The film shows us these workers’ lives and stories. The night shapes their character, their behaviour – and their vision of the world. A reflection on the time of those nights and space, both prison and escape route to other universes.

Nasser BENABDERAHMAN was born in 1986 in Morocco. Having studied film he began to work in the design and production of various audiovisual projects. In 2016, he directed his first short film, “Occupation”. “A Thousand Nights and a Dawn” is his first documentary.

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LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES

(Terrible Children)

52 minutes, 2021
Director : Ahmet Necdet CUPUR (Turkey, France)
Production : TS Productions (France), Jyoti Film (Germany), Liman Film (Turkey), Al Jazeera Documentary Channel (Qatar) with the participation of France Télévisions

“Les enfants terribles” takes us into the daily life of a Turkish family – the director’s. Young adults fight every day as each tries to assert his or her freedom and independence in the face of a paternal authority rooted in traditional values. Ahmet Necdet Cupur gives us here an intimate portrait of a younger generation desperate to change things. 

Ahmet NECDET CUPUR was born in a village on the Syrian border in Turkey. At thirteen he left home and settled in Antakya. He became a civil engineer and worked in Iraq and Afghanistan during the war then moved to Paris to become a film-maker. He made a short film “Latin Babylon” and then returned to his native village to make “Les enfants terribles”.

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FIANCÉES

(Brides)

80 minutes, 2019
Director : Julia BÜNTER (Swiss)
Production : Intermezzo Films (Swiss)
In coproduction with Nouvelle Tribu (Swiss)

Brides follows three Egyptian women as they approach marriage. Without taboos or judgment, the film draws a portrait of contemporary Cairo society and its youth, torn between unchanging traditions and a growing desire for freedom.

Born in Geneva in 1990, Julia BÜNTER grew up in Valais before studying film at ECAL in Lausanne. Her graduation film “Jour J” has been screened at many international festivals, including the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. She then made “À la maison”, a short documentary, before moving to Cairo in 2015 to concentrate on making “Fiancées”, her first feature-length documentary.

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BEST UNKEPT SECRET

57 minutes, 2019
Director : Ilan MIZRAHI (Israel)
Production : Blimey (Israel)

For 15 years “Best Unkept Secret” follows the heartbreaking story of a teenager who discovers all his life he has been manipulated and used by fundamentalist Jewish organizations. A journey of redemption begins, a search for the truth about the many rumours which surround his past, while facing his own worst fears.

Ilan MIZRAHI is a photojournalist with over twenty years experience, working for the Los Angeles Times, The Times of London, The Washington Post and many more. His first documentary “The Rise of the Right” was bought by Al Jazeera in 2008. “Best Unkept Secret” is his second documentary.

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