Like a man on earth
This is the film that in 2008-2009 shocked many Italians, contributing to break the silence on the dramatic consequences of the Italy-Libya agreement for the contrast of illegal immigration.
The film follows Dag’s story. Law student in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), who decided to leave his country because of the strong political repression. In Winter 2005 he crossed the desert between Sudan and Libya. However in Libya he had to endure not only the violence of those smugglers managing the journey towards the Mediterranean, but also and most of all the abuses and violence of the Libyan police, responsible of blanket arrests and inhuman deportations.
Survived to the Libyan trap, Dag succeeded in arriving in Italy by sea, in Rome, where he started to attend the school of Italian language of Asinitas Onlus, meeting place for many African immigrants. Here he not only learnt Italian but also video-documentary language (thanks to the laboratory The Desert and the Sea organized by ZaLab in 2007). Thus he decided to collect the memories of his contemporaries on the terrible journey through Libya, and he tried to break the nonsensical silence on what was happening in Gaddafi’s country, following Italy’s requests. “Like a man on Earth” is a journey of sorrow and dignity, through which Dagmawi Yimer can give voice to the almost impossible memory of human sufferings, for which Italy and Europe must be held responsible, as they cannot hide them for long. The documentary is part of the project Migrant Memories Archive, developed from 2006 in Rome by Asinitas, ZaLab and AAMOD.
Credits
Italy, 2008 – ’60
Directors: Andrea Segre, Dagmawi Yimer in collaboration with Riccardo Biadene
Director’s assistant: Matteo Calore
Author and DoP: Andrea Segre
Consultants: Stefano Liberti, Gabriele Del Grande and Alessandro Triulzi
Editing: Luca Manes in colllaboration with Sara Zavarise
With: Fikirte Inghida, Dawit Seyum, Senait Tesfaye, Tighist Wolde, Tsegaye Nedda, Damallash Amtataw, Johannes Eyob, Tsegaye Tadesse, Negga Demitse
Post Production Audio: Riccardo Spagnol
Production: Asinitas onlus and ZaLab
Distribution: Giulia Moretti
Original Soundtrack: Piccola Bottega Baltazar
Language: Amharic , Italian and English (Italian, English, French, Spanish and German subtitles)
in collaboration with the Italian Waldensian Church and Lettera27
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
Salina Doc Festival 2008 – First prize Best Documentary Tasca D’Almerita; Award Brasil; Award Porsche Public Salina
Festival of African Cinema of Verona – special mention
Per il Cinema Italiano – special mention of the jury of the Vittorio De Seta Award
Don Luigi Di Liegro Award 2009
Provincia di Roma Award – Provincia Solidale 2008
Visioni Italiane Officinema– Special Mention Visioni Doc (Bologna)
David di Donatello Awards – finals candidate in the Documentary section
Casa Rossa Award- Bellaria Film Festival – special mention
Festival Arcipelago Roma – best documentary
Cinema del Reale – best documentary
Festival Maremetraggio – second prize
MilanoFilmFestival – official selection
Stati Generali del Documentario – official selection The Best of Fest
Festival Internazionale del Doc d’Abruzzo – section VISTI DA VICINO
Terra di Tutti Film Festival – official competition
ValsusaFilmFest – special event
LauraFilmFestival– special event
Voci dal Sud – special event
XIV Prix CMCA (Marsiglia) – Gran Prix TeleFrance
Vues d’Afrique – Montreal (Canada) – Prix Comunication Interculturelle TV5-Monde
Mostra Internacional de Cinema de Sao Paulo – special event
Stockholm African Film Festival – official selection
London International Documentary Festival – official competition
Fespaco 2009 – Festival Internaz. di Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) – Panorama
African Cinema Festival in Tarifa (Esp) – open screen
Festival Millenium (Bruxelles) – panorama
17th Festival Internacional de Cinema del Medi Ambient (Barcellona) – out-of-competition
MediMed (Barcelona) – official selection
International Rotterdam Film Festival 2010- section Signals-Where is Africa
MoviesThatMatter Amsterdam – official competition
InputTV 2010 (Budapest) – official selection May 2010
Cinemigrante 2010 (Buenos Aires) – Best Feature Film Prize
From March to July 2007, ZaLab led a laboratory of participatory video with migrants from the association Asinitas in the Education and Care Centre in Rome.
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