La neige cache l'ombre des figuiers
Samer Najari, Canada, 35mm, 2009, 21'
sab 11 sett, h. 18.00, Teatro Dal Verme
mer 15 sett, h. 16.30, Teatro Dal Verme
ven 17 sett, h. 22.30, Teatro Strehler
Regista/Director: Samer Najari
Paese/Country: Canada
Anno/Year: 2009
Formato/Format: 35mm
Durata/Running Time: 21'
Produzione/Production: Productions L'Unité Centrale
Produttore/Producer Lise: Galilé Marion-Gauvin
Sceneggiatura/Screenplay: Samer Najari
Montaggio/Editing: Mathieu Bouchard-Malo
Fotografia/Cinematography: Michel La Veaux
Sound Editor: Olivier Calvert
Cast: Mohsen El Gharbi, Nedjim Bouizzoul, Aliocha Schneider, Juan Hernandez, Nelson Bolivar, Jose Cuervo
Distribuzione/Distribution: Mélito Distribution
Sinossi / Synopsis
Sei immigrati in Canada e un furgone per consegnare giornali. È partendo da questo set che il regista Samer Najari, lavorando principalmente con attori non professionisti, riesce a creare un film di inaspettata poesia. Alternando l'attenzione tra i personaggi, mentre Salim, la voce narrante, racconta la storia di un ragazzo speciale: il biondo Sasha, alla sua prima stagione di lavoro, che si presenta a cavallo. Nei loro diversi destini, una riflessione speciale sul tempo, la distanza e il caso.
Six immigrants in Canada and a van to deliver newspapers. It is taking this set as a starting point that director Samer Najari, working mainly with non-professional actors, succeeds in creating a film of unexpected poetry. The focus alternates between the characters whilst Salim, the narrating voice, tells the story of a special boy: blond Sasha, in his first season of work, who turns up on a horse. Their different fates are a special reflection on time, distance and chance.
Note di regia / Director's Statement
'La neige cahe l'ombre des figuiers is an intimate story based on my personal experience of immigration and all the difficulties involved. Indeed, one of my first job shortly after arriving to Canada was the distribution of advertising bags. This work, physically demanding and poorly paid, remains mainly reserved for newcomers who find themselves in a kind of emergency to work which ever the work conditions are and at any price. Having neither an anthropological intention nor a critical discourse, La neige cahe l'ombre des figuiers shares with us the first impressions of Salim, a new comer, and five other men in a similar situation. They are all gathered in a small van filled up with thousands of advertising bags. All along a seemingly very ordinary day, Salim reveals his feelings regarding his work, his companions, and the tremendous amount of snow which veils all the landscape during the Canadian winter. Gradually, the story is tinted with poetic elements that comes to disturb the routine of these workers. The accumulation of these elements leads to a surprising and unexpected explosion in the story. Finally, it is through fantastical event that the film ends on a light and ludicrous note, leaving suspended any attempt of rational resolution concerning the delicate question of the immigration.'
Samer Najari
Anno di Nascita/Date of Birth: 1976
Paese/Country: Born in Russia of Syrian nationality
Biografia/Biography
Samer Najari, figlio di padre siriano e madre libanese, è nato a Mosca nel 1976. Poco dopo aver cominciato gli studi di architettura all'Università di Damasco, è emigrato a Montreal, in Canada, con la sua famiglia nel 1994. Da allora, ha ottenuto un Bachelor of Fine Arts in produzione di film alla Concordia University nel 2001 e frequentato per due anni (2001-03) lo Studio National des Arts Contemporains, a Le Fresnoy, in Francia, durante i quali ha diretto due corti. Tornato a Montreal ha diretto Before the wind blows nel 2006, che è stato proiettato e premiato a livello internazionale e La neige cahe l'ombre des figuier nel 2009.
Samer Najari, son of a Syrian father and Lebanese mother, was born in Moscow in 1976. Shortly after commencing studies in architecture at the University of Damascus, he immigrated to Montreal, Canada, with his family in 1994. Since then, he has obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film production from Concordia University in 2001, and completed a residency at Le Studio National des Arts Contemporains, Le Fresnoy in France (2001-03). During this residency Samer Najari directed two short films and conceived an Internet installation. Back in Montreal he directed 'Before the wind blows' in 2006 which has been screened and prized internationally and 'La neige cahe l'ombre des figuier' in 2009.
Filmografia/FilmographyExtraits d'une pensée inutile - 1998
A propos des chats et des faux marins - 1999
Un hymen, deux couilles et beaucoup de tomahawks - 2000
Nous irons à la plage, tu feras une sieste, je compterai les nuages - 2002
Buffer Zone - 2003
Le petit oiseau va sortir (Before the Wind Blows) - 2006
Festival/Festivals
Odense International Film Festival 2010, IndieLisboa 2010 Tampere International Film Festival 2010, Rendez-vous du Cinèma Quèbécois 2010, 32nd Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2010, Festival du Nouveau Cinma 2009, Toronto International Film Festival 2009
Premi/Awards
Best Short Fiction Award ex-aequo (IndieLisboa), Best Short Fiction Award (Rendez-vous du Cinma Québécois)
