La Vie es dans la Pré
Eric Guéret
France. 2020. 52 min

Paul François is what we call a grain producer. Farmer in Charente, he cultivates 250 hectares of land. He was poisoned in 2004 by Lasso, a herbicide from Monsanto.
After ten years of doubts and hesitations, Paul decided to overcome his fears and to convert his lands into organic farming. We follow this exciting change for a year, from his last “chemical” harvest to his first crop without pesticides. Paul takes significant risks, but the stakes are high. If he succeed in organic farming, he will prove that biological agriculture is sustainable solution.

For 12 years, he has been fighting against Monsanto for the recognition of the firm’s responsibility on his health problems. This trial, which has become emblematic, will see its conclusion in this film during a final hearing at the Court d’Appel de Lyon.

ERIC GUÉRET

Eric Guéret has been making documentaries on social and environmental issues since 1992. He is specialized in the cinema of proximity, filming in total immersion, as close as possible to people, during very long periods.
Most of his films are about struggles, in all their forms. Collective struggles, as in “Greenpeace, Operation Plutonium”, which plunges into the heart of Greenpeace’s nuclear campaign, or “Tous ensemble”, which follows the struggle of CGT trade unionists.
Individual struggles, as in “La mort est dans le pré”, with farmers who are victims of pesticides, or “Femmes sans domiciles”, which recounts the survival conditions of homeless women.
He has made several investigative documentaries on environmental issues such as “Déchets, le cauchemar du nucléaire” and
“Nuclear safety, the big lie”.

He has also focused on the fight against violence and discrimination. “Les insoumises” is about women who face male violence around the world, “Homo la haine” about homophobia and its consequences, and “Trans c’est mon genre” about the rejection of transgender people.

His latest films focus more on the reconstruction of victims of trauma, such as “13 novembre, vivre avec” (November 13, living with) which accompanies some victims of the Paris attacks during their first year as survivors, or “Enfance abusée” (abused childhood) which gives voice to 8 victims of pedo-crime.
On October 21, 2020, his first film for the cinema, “Le feu sacré” (Holy Fire), was released in theaters. It tells the story of the battle of the Ascoval steelworkers in the north of France to save their factory. The film was unanimously received by the press and the public.

FILMOGRAPHY

1992 : Les Enfants du parti, documentaire – 52 min – Planète+
1998 : Histoires de profs, série documentaire de 8 épisodes de 13 min – La Cinquième
1999 : Paroles d’enfants, documentaire – 60 min – TSR (Suisse) et RTS (Sénégal)
2001 : France Gall par France Gall, documentaire – 120 min – France 3
2001 : Citoyen du vent, documentaire – 60 min – France 3 Corse
2002 : Renaud, le rouge et le noir, documentaire – 125 min – France 3
2003 : Langues maternelles, documentaire – 90 min – La Cinquième et Planète+
2003 : Julien en Clerc, documentaire – 130 min – France 3
2005 : Greenpeace, opération plutonium – feuilleton documentaire – 5 x 26 min – Arte
2006 : Les Mitterrand(s), coécrit avec Serge Moati – 57 min – Arte
2006 : Coluche, la France a besoin de toi – 52 min – France 3
2007 : Femmes sans domicile, documentaire – 98 min – Arte
2009 : Déchets : Le Cauchemar du nucléaire, documentaire – 98 min – Arte
2010 : Tous ensemble, en collaboration avec Hugues Nancy – documentaire – 75 min
2012 : La Mort est dans le pré, documentaire (sur les produits phytosanitaires1) – 52 min – France 2
2013 : Les Insoumises, documentaire – Infrarouge, 110 min – Canal+
2014 : Homos, la haine, documentaire – Infrarouge, France 2
2015 : La santé en France, documentaire – 90 min – France 3
2016 : Trans, c’est mon genre – Infrarouge, France 22,3
2016 : 13 novembre, Vivre avec – Infrarouge, France 22,3
2017 : Sécurité nucléaire : le grand mensonge, documentaire – Arte4
2018 : Enfance abusée, documentaire – Infrarouge, France 2
2020 : La vie est dans le pré, documentaire – 79 min – France 3
2020 : Le Feu sacré, documentaire – Cinéma

POSTER

CONTACT

communication@bonnepioche.fr

Neighbours
Mano Khalil
Switzerland. 2021. 124 min

In a Syrian border village in the early 80’s, little Sero attends school for the first time. A new teacher has arrived with the goal of making strapping Panarabic comrades out of the Kurdish children. To enable paradise to come to earth, he uses the rod to forbid the Kurdish language, orders the veneration of Assad and preaches hate of the “Zionist enemy”- the Jews. The lessons upset and confuse Sero because his long-time neighbors are a lovable Jewish family. With a fine sense of humor and satire, the Film depicts a childhood which manages to find light moments between dictatorship and dark drama. Little Sero gets involved in dangerous pranks with his friends, and dreams of having a television so he can finally watch cartoons. But he also experiences how the adults around him are increasingly crushed by the despotism, violence and nationalism which surround them.
The film was inspired by the director’s personal experiences, and so his bitter-sweet memories connect the Syrian tragedy to the present.

MANO KHALIL

Mano Khalil was born in Kurdistan – Syria.
1981-1986 Studied history and law at Damascus University in Syria. 1987-1994 Studied fiction film direction in the former Czechoslovakia.
1990-1995 Worked as independent film director for Czechoslovakian and later for the Slovakian Television. Since 1996 lives in Switzerland, working as independent film director and producer. 2012 grounded the production film company Frame Film.

FILMOGRAPHY

2021 Neighbours – Fiction 124 Min
2018 Hafis & Mara – documentary 88 Min
2016 The Swallow – Fiction 102 Min
2013 The Beekeeper – documentary 107 Min
2010 Our garden of Eden. Documentary 97min
2009 My Prison, my Home. Documentary 33 Min.
2007 David the Tolhildan, Documentary, 54 Min
2005 Al-Anfal, in the name of Allah, Baath and Saddam Documentary.
2003 Colorful dreams. Fiction 52 Min
1999 Triumph of Iron. Fic-Doc.
1995 Kino-ocko (Kino eye) Doc.16mm, 20Min
1992 The place where god sleeps. doc.16mm, 30Min

PRESS KIT

POSTER

CONTACT

mano.khalil@bluemail.ch

Alborada
Asoka Handagama
Sri Lanka. 2021. 108 min

Alborada ( The Dawning of the Day ) is a fictionalized account of famous Chilean poet and activist Pablo Neruda’s time in Sri Lanka from 1929-1931 (British Ceylon at time) as an ambassador: his memoires from his time in Ceylon include a harrowing confession to raping a low-caste Tamil woman, tasked with cleaning his outhouse each dawn.

Although there are many accounts of his life portrayed in fiction and film, this part of the story is often carefully left out. Though his poems about love outwardly sound romantic, they hide within them the exoticization and objectification of women and particularly, women of color. The depiction of a Burmese woman Josie Bliss (widely regarded as a figment of the poet’s imagination) as a “perceived threat, desire and barbarity” in his poem Widower’s Tango, combined with his confession show Neruda’s complicated relationship with women and race.

Alborada is an elaboration of the incident, beginning with Pablo’s first arrival in Sri Lanka. It explores the psychological and the emotional factors behind Pablo’s attraction to a woman bound by her caste: an innocent woman who, unbeknownst to her, played a part in a bizarre fantasy that ended in a sexual assault.

Alborada( The Dawning of the Day ) was shot during the pandemic in Sri Lanka. It held its World Premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2021 ( In Competition ) and well received there. Was screened in International Film Festival in Kerala ( IFFK ) under World Cinema.

ASOKA HANDAGAMA

Asoka Handagama is considered as a leader of the third generation of Sri Lankan cinema.  Studied Mathematics at the University of Kelaniya.  He obtained his MSc in Development Economics at Warwick University in 1995. He is also the Assistant Governor of the Sri Lankan Central Bank. His films such as This is My Moon(2000), Flying with One Wing (2002) always tend to explore new forms and narratives.  Amiens International Film Festival, paid tribute to Asoka Handagama for his contribution to development of independent cinema in Asia, at its 33rd edition.  His latest film Let Her Cry is his eight full-length feature.

Fascinating what you say about the film and its analysis of the toxicity of patriarchy, which is now finally being challenged. The ultimate goal of feminism is to replace patriarchy with a more just, egalitarian and kinder civilisation. I think it’s important to take the idols down from their pedestals, because they are flawed people, as we all are, but you can’t cancel their work. If we are going to destroy the work of poets, because they were sinners, we should also destroy the work of scientists, politicians, generals, inventors, musicians and so on. There would be nothing left.” ISABEL ALLENDE.

The script is a fiction that is structured from Neruda’s own memories in “I confess that I have lived” (1974) in the chapter “The Luminous Solitude”, where he describes in seven lines about how one day he sexually forces himself on a Tamil girl, who came from the lowest caste of the Sakkili, who were considered “untouchables”.

Asoka Handagama, an admirer of Neruda’s work, was stunned to read this paragraph of the memoir and for more than ten years entertained the idea of making a film about the incident. But it was not until 2021, in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic, that this dream would be realized with the filming of “Alborada”. The title was inspired by the name Neruda had given to his Ceylonese friend Lionel Wendt’s house built in the elegant Cinnamon Gardens neighborhood of Colombo. Wendt was a musician, photographer, filmmaker and promoter of the arts in his country.

PRESS KIT

POSTER

CONTACT

ahandagama@yahoo.com

The Coffin Painter
Da Fei
China. 2021. 95 min

Middle-aged Old Jia and teenage girl Seven came to the town and became neighbors under different circumstances. From indifference to being attached, they look for a new life from each other.

In his second feature film The Coffin Painter, Da Fei tells a warm story of the cross-generational friendship between two strangers: Jia, an older man who has lost his son, and Seven, a middle school girl who runs from debt with her mother. As a coffin painter, the traditional Chinese craftsman who draws religious symbols on coffins, Jia witnesses people’s different attitudes towards their families living and dead. As time passes by, the three characters with distinct personalities drift closer and bring company and warmth to each other.
By depicting the mundane daily life in the remote town, Da Fei embodies people’s loneliness in an indifferent world. The sincere and gloomy tone of the film drives us to feel the characters’ burdens and sorrow. As Jia and Seven understand and heal each other with their kindness, their life’s reverse point eventually comes…

DA FEI

Da Fei, a Chinese film writer and director, graduated from Shanxi Media College in 2007. In 2018, Silent Winter was produced. It was selected in the First Time Filmmaker Section of the 42nd Montreal International Film Festival.
It won more than 20 nominations and awards including Best Film, Best Screenwriter at South Africa Independent Film Festival, and Best Original Screenplay at the London International Film Festival in 2019.

FILMOGRAPHY

2006 Short film Free Flight
2018 Feature film Silent Winter
2021 Feature Film The Coffin Painter

INTERVIEW

PRESS KIT

POSTER

CONTACT

caoliuying@parallaxchina.com

2000 Songs of Farida
Yolkin Tuychiev
Uzbekistan. 2020. 110 min

At the beginning of the twentieth century, there is civil war in Central Asia. The Emirate and khanates are about to collapse. The civilians live in the deepest fear of their uncertain future and of the imminent arrival of significant numbers of Bolsheviks. But that doesn’t seem to bother Kamil. This old renegade lives far away from … everything: his times, worldly concerns, society, the values of the rich and the poor. He wants something different. He wishes for something else. His only hope is to have a descendant. But time is a relentless persecutor. He brings a new young wife home as his other wives were unable to give him an heir. Tension inevitably appears.

“This film is neither a historical epic (…) nor a foray into my ethnic background, but the exploration of real life, real people, their reality, dignity and truth. That truth seems to flow out through time, grows and goes beyond the borders of history, mentality, nationality and race in order to reach a real sense of humanity. And as for me – the art of motion pictures is the best way to remember, comprehend and hope that we all are human beings in the flow of time.” Yolkin Tuychiev.

YOLKIN TUYCHIEV

Yolkin Tuychiev was born in 1977. He is graduated from the Art Institute of Tashkent and from School of Directing of Moscow. En 2004, he co-directed The Tulip in the Snow with A. Chakhobiddinov, presented at the Cannes International Film Festival. In Vesoul, The Source won the Jury’s Special Mention in 2007, and P.S. the Golden Cyclo in 2011.

Filmography

1999 : February
2003 : Tulip in the snow
2004 : Adolescent
2006 : The Source
2008 : Silence
2012 : Afg’on
2012 : Dunyo
2015 : House of mermaids
2016 : Ma’suma
2020 : 2000 Songs of Farida

POSTER

CONTACT

mannapov.azizbek@gmail.com

Friend
Andrey Svetlov
Russia, Belarus. 2021. 20 min

“Friend” is a movie about two warring school students. One of them dreams of a new smartphone, the other of a simple friendship. By chance, they find themselves in a common predicament from which they will have to get out. It’s a rich, day-long story spiced with chases, childish adventurism and light humour.

ANDREY SVETLOV

Andrey Svetlov was born on 31-07-1994 in Irkutsk, Russia. Graduated from Belarusian State Academy of Arts. Currently, works as a film director.

POSTER

CONTACT

cinepromo@yandex.ru

Fortune
Anatoly Tarabrin
Russia. 2021. 19 min

Scriptwriter Sergey hasn’t gotten paid for his work for a long time. His wife gets furious and makes a scene, but Sergey unexpectedly gets a million rubles on the card. The wife is happy, Sergey feels like a hero. But while his wife is planning how to spend the money, Sergey bets on the result of the football match.

ANATOLY TARABRIN

Anatoly Tarabrin was born in 1986 in Azov, Rostov region. He has got several degrees:
In 2006 he graduated from the Rostov School of Culture; in 2018 he graduated the Southern University Faculty of Economics; in 2020 he graduated the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation; in 2020 he graduated from the Workshop of the author, editor-in-chief, producer at the School of the Channel One Russia TV. In 2021 he graduated from the Arka Film School at the Higher School of Economics, after which he entered the New York Film Academy (Los Angeles).

Filmography
2021 – The Gift / social, Russia. 1 min.
2021 – The Fortune / dark comedy, Russia. 18 min
2021 – The Greatest Robbery / dramedy, Russia. 30 min

POSTER

CONTACT

submissions@festagent.com

Warm Lake
Aruan Anartayev
Kazkhstan. 2021. 26 min

In a village on a shore of a warm lake, a local boy and a visiting girl from the boarding house meet each other. Teenagers spend the long southern summer exploring the coast, while the girl’s parents in the rooms of the boarding house decide whether their family will stay together.

ARUAN ANARTAYEV

Film director, producer and script writer based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Aruan graduated the course of director Darezhan Omirbayev in 2015, and as an observer visited the lessons of documentary laboratory of Vladimir Tyulkin in Almaty.
Aruan graduated Boris Yuhananov’s Studio of individual direction (MIR 5) in Moscow, where he participated in plays on the scene of Electrotheatre Stanislavsky as a part of the project Orphic games. His first study film called Tauba (2016) is a great attempt to create narration close to a conditional idiom. Aruan managed to confront the Broken windows theory, which finds the connection in all crimes, whereas his short film shows an opposite side – the consequences of good intention to overcome apathy.
Aruan directed several documentary and feature short films. One of his films, Nostalgia seller (2017) – about a seller on the flea market who has been selling junk all his life and dreamed of suddenly getting rich, was selected to participate in Umut festival in Bishkek.
Since 2017 Aruan working as an executive producer at documentary film studio Tihiy Svet in Almaty.
Tihiy Svet documentary studio produces films that are socially impactful and creates documentary content for informational campaigns of underreported but socially important topics and events. As an producer he was lead the production of several social documentary projects. His major project at this position was FACE THE MUSIC (2019) –full-length documentary, that follows the protests against concerts of a local band Ninety One in Kazakhstan.
Film was premiered at DMZ international documentary film festival.

FILMOGRAPHY

Tauba (2015)
Nostalgia seller (2016)
Bailanys (2017)
A train of health (2020) doc
Warm lake 2021

POSTER

CONTACT

diana.ashimova@gmail.com

May You Stay Forever Young
Rex Ren, Lam Sum
Hong Kong. 2021. 86 min

In June, 2019, a series of massive demonstrations against the Hong Kong government’s attempt to revise and pass the Extradition Law led to a chain of suicides by young protesters to validate their opposition. The story takes place on 28th July, a week after the white mob attack in Yuen Long. YY, a 17-year-old girl, announced her attempt to end her life on Instagram. After that, she couldn’t be contacted or located.

Nam, the 20-year-old “comrade” she met after a protest-related arrest, and amongst others, frantically searched for her around Kwai Tsing district where she lived. Her photo and other information were posted on Telegram and LIHKG Forum, resulting in hundreds of volunteers joining the search. It’s a run against time. emotionally exhausting hunt, she was finally located in Mongkok, the busiest area populated by young people. Meanwhile, on the island side, protesters are confronting the fully armed riot police. Yet, it becomes a dilemma for those who are still searching for YY.

REX REN

Rex graduated from the School of Film & Television at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, majoring in Directing. He won the Best Director Award with Even Ants Strife for Survival at the 12th Fresh Wave International Short Film Competition and Gold Award at the 23rd Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards. He was Fruit CHAN’s scriptwriter and assistant director before working for Andy LAU’s Infinitus Films as Creative Team Supervisor. In 2018, he won the grand prize with A Life of Papers at the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion meeting. He is also the founder of Equal Write Union Hong Kong.

LAM SUM

Born in Hong Kong. Lam is an independent short film and documentary filmmaker graduated from School of Film and TV, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, specialising in directing. Lam is also a social movement activist and his works mostly focus on social issues. Lam is also a video freelancer and as a film production tutor in several schools and colleges.

POSTER

CONTACT

daniel.cinemastudies@gmail.com