MEDITERRANEA a Film by Jonas Carpignano
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MEDITERRANEA A film by Jonas Carpignano *** 2015 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL - INTERNATIONAL CRITICS’ WEEK *** 2015 // Italy, France, USA, Germany, Qatar // In French, Italian, English, Arabic, Bissa // 107min Press Materials can be downloaded at: http://bit.ly/MediterraneaFilm PRESS INQUIRIES: Ryan Werner Charlie Olsky [email protected] [email protected] +1.917.254.7653 +1.917.545.7260 SHORT SYNOPSIS Two best friends journey across desert and sea from Burkina Faso to Southern Italy in search of a better life, economically and otherwise. But when they arrive in Rosarno, the glittering snapshots they saw on Facebook detailing the immigrant's life abroad do not match with the tough challenges they are met with in their new lives. One friend begins to assimilate through hard work and a sympathetic employer, who welcomes him into his family, while the other friend grows increasingly disillusioned with his hardscrabble reality. A vicious attack on the migrant community explodes into a full-blown riot, sending both friends into wildly different futures. LONG SYNOPSIS Ayiva is a young single father living in Burkina Faso who dreams of a better life in Europe. After traveling a dangerous route on foot through the North African desert and by boat across the Mediterranean Sea from Libya, he arrives in the Southern Italy town of Rosarno with his best friend Abas, determined to reap the economic rewards of their new life abroad. But what they find in Italy does not match the glittering images they see on Facebook of their immigrant friends partying in nightclubs and living the dream. Instead, they find hard work in orange groves, grim accommodations in a nearby shantytown, and the simmering animosity of local gangs. Over time Ayiva settles into comfort and connection through a sympathetic employer, who welcomes him into his home. Abas, meanwhile, grows increasingly disillusioned with his hardscrabble reality. Tensions flare between local thugs and the migrant community, resulting in a vicious attack that erupts into a full-blown riot. Ayiva is faced with a difficult choice: provide for his distant family in Africa through continued hard work and assimilation or rise up with his impromptu immigrant family, against a system and society that held such shimmering promise in their eyes. 2 A CONVERSATION WITH JONAS CARPIGNANO Your story couldn't be timelier in the wake of recent events in Mediterranean waters off the Italian coast. What are your thoughts on the sinking of the Libyan migrant boat this past April? This film has been in my mind since at least 2011 or 2012. I know that America is starting to give more and more coverage to these disasters but in Italy or in Europe we've been hearing about these tragedies for a long time, and it's always around this time of year (April) because the waters get warmer, people start to leave their countries, a big thing like the recent Libyan boat’s sinking happens and for a while everybody pays attention to it. And then it happens again and again from this point until it stops in the winter along with the media coverage because it gets too cold to cross the Mediterranean. This story has been going on for a very, very long time. How is this story close to you personally? It would be pretentious on my part to claim that I have experienced anything remotely close to what the immigrants are experiencing — I can only be an outside observer here. However, because of my own background, I could approach the story of African immigrants in Italy with some personal connections. My mother is African-American and my father is Italian. And I’ve always been very interested in race relations, with a particular interest in the role of black people in Italian society. So when the first race riot took place in Rosarno in 2010, I immediately went down to Calabria to learn more about the circumstances that lead to the revolt. It was an event of historical proportions because it opened up for the first time the question of race relations in an Italian context. So I started talking to people and collecting stories about their lives. I settled there permanently and began to think about a script. My encounter with Koudous Seihon (who went on to play Ayiva), was decisive. With him, I found one my closest friends as well as an entry point into the world I wanted to describe — not to mention the protagonist of the film. The first result was A Chiana, a short film that focuses on the immediate events and characters leading to the revolt. In it I was able to develop some key themes. I experimented with a model of collective production where everybody is involved, actors as well as crew. How did this become a feature film project? We were satisfied with the outcome of A Chiana. It was well received, but it was clear to me that the short only touched the surface. I knew that that story demanded a full feature film and I started to write one almost immediately. I wanted to tell the story from the beginning, from the journey through the African desert to the shock of arrival on European shores. I knew I wanted to examine more closely the ambiguous relation between the immigrants and the Italian community. Meanwhile, I had established residency in Gioia Tauro (8 km from Rosarno) and that became my production headquarters. My relationship with the immigrant community deepened — new people I met became new characters. I thought I had enough materials to make it work. And then things started coming together. In filmmaking you never know what to expect but we were lucky enough to line up a set of investors from around the world that had faith in the film. What do you think has helped escalate the migration crisis in Europe? Obviously there are people coming over from Syria, people fleeing all kinds of horrors in Northern Africa — those are the regions that capture the headlines. They are dangerous places for people to live. People 3 are fleeing because they don't have any other choice; it's life or death. The reason my protagonist is from Burkina Faso is because I didn't want a story where people were fleeing imminent danger. I think migration in general is a phenomenon that isn't necessarily caused by the need to flee your home, as much as it is by the belief that there is a better opportunity somewhere else and that there is a new life to be experienced. If my protagonist had come from Syria it would have been a little more obvious as to why they were leaving home. The parallel I was interested in drawing in my film goes back to the early 20th century when the Italians were leaving Sicily and Calabria in droves for better opportunities in America, which was this place that made it possible for immigrants to provide for their families as well as live a life that was more “modern." Obviously there is a vast difference between the Southern Italian immigration to America and the current African immigration to Italy, if for no other reason than the former was highly controlled and regimented. But most immigration flows share some fundamental traits. First there is the economic push and pull. Southern Italy was the agricultural third world of the day and New York and Chicago were already global cities. But there was also a strong element of subjective desire that was circulated and cultivated by the existing communication infrastructure. Letters written home by immigrants and articles published in the immigrant press were the media that cultivated the dream of better life. Today the media environment is so different and yet it is through social media (and Facebook in particular) that these new subjectivities are formed. Sometimes the situation is embellished and distorted but it is partly there that desires are formed, and decisions are made. What promise does Europe hold for these migrants that Africa doesn't offer? The economy is obviously the biggest draw — what my lead actor made in Italy in two days was enough to support his family back in Africa for months. But I didn't just want to make a movie about family responsibility. There are cultural factors that are equally important. We always hear of the culturally conservative immigrants who bring with them their religion and their old customs. But there are also many who want to escape from them. One of the big draws of Europe for young immigrants is the possibility of experiencing a different life. Ayiva wants both things — to support his family back home but to also cut loose and enjoy himself whenever he can How did you find the actor who plays Ayiva? The actor who plays him is my roommate, my best friend, and one of the most courageous and charismatic people I've ever known. When I went down to Southern Italy to cast my short film, the one- year anniversary of the immigration riots was being commemorated with a parade in the town of Rosarno. There was a gathering of about 600 African immigrants and I was looking for people in that crowd to cast in the short. I saw Koudous immediately with his leather jacket and megaphone in hand speaking French, English, Italian, Ghanaian, just commanding this march. One person standing out like this in a group of 600 was something to see — his presence was commanding. And how did the character of Ayiva come together — did he come strictly out of Koudous' own experiences as an immigrant in Italy? It wasn't about forming a character.