Macondo
Sudabeh Mortezai
Aged 11, Ramasan is already a man behind his appearance as a little boy. A refugee in Austria with his mother and two sisters, he tries as best he can to replace his father who died in Chechnya... The arrival of Issa, a former friend of his father's, will change his life.
With : Ramasan Minkailov, Aslan Elbiev, Kheda Gazieva, Rosa Minkailova
Screenplay : Sudabeh Mortezai
Image : Klemens Hufnagl
Editing : Oliver Neumann
Sound : Atanas Tcholakov
Screenplay : Sudabeh Mortezai
Image : Klemens Hufnagl
Editing : Oliver Neumann
Sound : Atanas Tcholakov
Production : Freibeuter Films
Distribution: Memento Films Distribution, Alexandre Mallet-Guy et Franck Salaun, 9 cité paradis, 75010 Paris / Tél. : +33 (0)1 53 34 90 20 / Email : distribution@memento-films.com
Distribution: Memento Films Distribution, Alexandre Mallet-Guy et Franck Salaun, 9 cité paradis, 75010 Paris / Tél. : +33 (0)1 53 34 90 20 / Email : distribution@memento-films.com
Sudabeh Mortezai was born in 1968 in Germany. She is of Iranian origin and grew up between Tehran and Vienna. She studied cinema and theatre at the University of Vienna, and then followed the Film, Television and Digital Media programme at UCLA. After working as an assistant director and production manager, she made several short films and two documentaries: Children of the Prophet (2006) and Im Bazar der Geschlechter (In the Bazaar of the Sexes) (2009). The latter earned her a nomination for best documentary at the Austrian Film Awards. Macondo is her first fiction feature.
"My starting point was to start from actual stories so as to develop a narrative which is deeply rooted in reality. I also knew that I wanted to work with non-professional actors and leave room for improvisation so that they can live out the scene in front of the camera more act it out. My idea was to illustrate the key word "integration" from the point of view of the refugees. When integration is talked about, particularly in the media, it is from the external point of view: migrants are a subject of debate, but are never allowed to speak. My aim, also because as a child I experienced this process of migration and integration, was to show the internal situation. I know what it means for a child to be suddenly immersed in a new, foreign culture where you have to fight not to be out of your depth. Arriving is difficult: you are clearly there, your body is there, but your emotions take a little more time to follow."
"My starting point was to start from actual stories so as to develop a narrative which is deeply rooted in reality. I also knew that I wanted to work with non-professional actors and leave room for improvisation so that they can live out the scene in front of the camera more act it out. My idea was to illustrate the key word "integration" from the point of view of the refugees. When integration is talked about, particularly in the media, it is from the external point of view: migrants are a subject of debate, but are never allowed to speak. My aim, also because as a child I experienced this process of migration and integration, was to show the internal situation. I know what it means for a child to be suddenly immersed in a new, foreign culture where you have to fight not to be out of your depth. Arriving is difficult: you are clearly there, your body is there, but your emotions take a little more time to follow."