Festival internazionale Segni della Notte - Urbino |
International Festival Signs of the Night - Urbino |
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8° Festival internazionale Segni della Notte - Urbino - Aprile 10-14, 2024
22th International Festival Signs of the Night - Italy
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Mauro Bucci |
Italy / 2023 / 1:15:37 |
An engaging journey through Gambia, Finland, and Italy, following the story of Essa, a former UN soldier and refugee, and his struggle to achieve well-being for himself and his loved ones. The film explores how the protagonist successfully established a business in Europe to financially help his village in Africa: Bureng. However, the outbreak of the Coronavirus gravely challenges Essa’s privileged position and his family's stability, leading him to one of the most serious crises of his life. "The Strong Man of Bureng" is both a contemporary odyssey and an intimate story of the deep motivations that have brought a person to leave his own country in an effort to satisfy universal needs.
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:JURY DECLARATION
Recognized for its powerful depiction of the intersections between globalization, migration, and human dignity, as exemplified in Essa J. Darboe's evolution from refugee to successful entrepreneur and back. The documentary skillfully navigates the complexities of migration and economic disparity.
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DIRECTOR STATEMENT
"The Strong Man of Bureng is a documentary that I made over four years of filming and living together with the people portrayed, traveling between Africa and Europe to explore the phenomenon of migration from an intimate point of view. The film digs into the intangible realm of motivations, responsibilities, and social expectations that impact the lives of so-called breadwinners who have successfully migrated to Western countries. The documentary was made possible by the participation of Essa, the film protagonist and a long-time close friend of mine. Our strong bond granted me access to his life, as well as the lives of his family and village. It was not just a film project but also an incredible personal experience, which was only interrupted by the COVID outbreak. This moment dramatically changed Essa's life and completely halted the realization of our documentary, to the extent that I doubted its completion was possible. After more than two years of struggles and my assistance to Essa, he was able to return to Europe and live a dignified life once again. This unexpected and very difficult period in Essa's life became a part of The Strong Man of Bureng, marking the conclusion of our film project."
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SIGNS AWARD
The Signs Award for Documentary honours films, which express in a
surprising and sensitive way the perturbing aspects of reality
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Masha Novikova |
Germany / 2023 / 01:30:00 |
After Russia started a fully-fledged war against Ukraine, the state’s repressive machine against its own civil society started spinning with even greater velocity and the law system, which barely functioned before, eventually turned into a mechanism of abuse and brutality. Human rights lawyers have become the last frontier between state violence and society. Our main protagonist Mikhail Benyash has been representing activists, bloggers, and protesters for many years, now he is also helping those who refuse to serve in the war. He was the victim of reprisals long before the war started, and in October 2022 was registered as a “foreign agent” – meaning he could lose his licence and face imprisonment. Film-maker Masha Novikova followed Benyash and a whole network of human rights lawyers for more than three years. The film documents their everyday struggle for justice in the increasingly hopeless conditions of a suffocating dictatorship. Very often they pay a high personal price to support their clients, putting themselves and their families in danger. Many have already had to leave the country, while others have remained, like Mikhail who believes that every voice counts and that every little action against the dictatorship matters
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JURY DECLARATION
Human rights lawyers have become the last frontier between state violence and society. The main protagonist Mikhail Benyash has been representing activists, bloggers, and protesters for many years, now he is also helping those who refuse to serve in the war. The jury found it important to have an insight in the system making existences impossible. Masha Novikova demonstrates courage by composing this movie following her protagonists for three years. All over the world it’s necessary to rise the voice againspt opression.
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NIGHT AWARD
The Night Award for Documentary honours films, which represent reality
in an ambivalent and enigmatic way, avoiding stereotypes of
representation and simple conclusions
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Vergiss meyn nicht |
Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl, Jens Mühlhoff |
Germany / 2023 / 01:40:00 |
Fall 2018: The Hambach Forest in West Germany becomes a chaotic scene of the climate conflict. In the midst of this chaos, film student Steffen Meyn has a fatal accident. Based on footage he collected over two years, we follow Steffen's path up the trees and into .
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JURY DECLARATION
This documentary delves deep into the heart of activism, exploring the complexities of environmental protection and the sacrifices made in its pursuit. Through the lens of Steffen Meyn's tragic journey, viewers are confronted with the paradoxes of idealism, self-sacrifice, and the harsh realities of activism. "Lonely Oaks" challenges us to question the limits of our commitment to the environment and the consequences of our actions in the fight for a better world.
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DIRECTOR STATEMENT
When our friend Steffen Meyn died during a police operation, he left us the footage from two years of the tree-squat at the Hambach opencast lignite mine
From this 360-degree footage and from interviews we shot with the activists, we collectively worked on this film for five years.
Steffen's enthusiasm for the occupation and his radicalization were always interspersed with a moral quarrel about the methods used. The use of the own body as a last resort ultimately affected him in its ultimate consequence. Using one's own life as a political instrument thus became the key question in today's interviews with the activists: "How far will we go to achieve our goals?"
We learn that the boundaries are fluid and that there is no right answer. There are new contradictions in every facet of resistance. But both the activists and Steffen agree on one thing: they teach us that it is essential to stand up for your ideals - even if they seem too big or naive.
In the end, the result is a film that constantly oscillates between Steffen's moral quarrels and the activists' inner turmoil, between personal loss and the political will for change.
The ambivalent portrayal of a political milieu was important to us and is the result of our collaborative work. Including our different perspectives in the film was important to us and one of our main goals in this film. We are all the more pleased to receive the Night Award for this film.
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JURY AWARD FOR THE BATTLE AGAINST POLLUTION
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Tanakit Kitsanayunyong |
Thailand / 2023 / 0 30:00 |
A documentary about 'invisible dust' or lives of the Thai people living in the abyss of dust through conversations among various groups of Thai urbanites and the visual allegory of people's lives whirlwind amidst the gray abyss of climate crisis.
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JURY DECLARATION
At the first look the movie seems to be a picturesk collage, but slowly enrolling one of the most important topics of our time. Through poignant storytelling and visual allegory, it sheds light on the urgent battle against air pollution, showcasing the lives affected and the tireless efforts of activists and researchers striving for change.
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DIRECTOR STATEMENT
The title pronounce 'La Ong Thuli' meaning in Thai is 'dust'. In 2020s a one of World's worst smog place was in Northern Thailand, people live in hazard level air quality almost decade with an increase in lung disease cases. Therefore like a dust people who live in land of dust. This documentary metaphor in a land of people who living in blanketed of dust, Who is a really dust in this land ?
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