The Pocket Crossborder

THE POCKET CROSSBORDER (France)

An ad for the quick and easy and probably quite fun way of crossing a border – be a human cannonball. But don’t try this at home or on a border you can legitimately get across because helmet and armour are not included, ok? This film rocketed in the Babelgum audience’s views.

Credits:
Director, Writer and Producer – Ambroise Becchio
Actor – Nicolas Russeil
Other – Linda Brisson, Laurent Gilli, Charlotte Graillat

Filmmaker Bio:
Ambroise Becchio was born on 17th January 1981 in the suburbs of Paris (Saint Maurice), France. His father is half Italian and his mother was a Russian refugee. He is bilingual in French and Russian. He developed a love for cinema and theatre as a young boy. He was amazed by the movies of Chaplin and would try to make people laugh by imitating him. When he was around 15 he began using his father’s Hi 8 video camera, and never looked back. He originally wanted to become a doctor but was so passionate about filmmaking that he failed his medical exams and enrolled in the Conservatoire Libre du Cinéma Français, where he graduated in 2003. He works with a group of filmmaking friends and together they write, shoot and edit with a passion.

GREATER – DEFEATING AIDS (Italy)

This is billed as a non-documentary and watching the way it pulls together various stories about a group of Ugandan women who are HIV positive, we soon realise that we’re seeing life there in a way we might not in the mainstream. Inspiring characters who are full of a zest for life tell us their stories, show us their dances and it feels by the end as though the filmmaker has been the vehicle by which we enter this particular world, rather than the person telling us how to perceive it.

Credits:
Filmmaker, Writer and Producer – Emmanuel Exitu

Filmmaker Bio:
Emmanuel Exitu was born in Italy, in Bologna. He moved to Rome where he worked as a screen writer. He also worked as a cinematographer for the Teatro di Documenti founded by Luciano Damiani, Luca Ronconi and Giuseppe Sinopoli. He is the director of “La Stella del Re” produced by Edwige Fenech and based on his omonymous novel. His first documentary, “Greater – Schiacciare l’AIDS” about Meeting Point International, founded by a nurse, Rose Busingye, and set in the slums of Kampala (Uganda), was awarded the Audience Award at the New York Aids Film Festival in 2007.

Without Words

WITHOUT WORDS (Ireland)

We live in a world where technology has given us the tools to communicate but not the ability. Without Words is a very personal film about two close friends who have to pay a very high price for our failure, as a society, to connect.

Credits:
Director – Brian Deane
Writers – Brian Deane, Aine Young
Producer – Evelyn O’Reilly
Actors – Larry McGowran, Robert Kelly
Other – Katie Looney
Publisher – John Huston School of Film and Digital Media

Filmmaker Bio:
Brian is a young Writer/Director from Cork in Ireland. Without Words is his first film and deals with a topic that’s very important to him. He is a recent graduate from the Huston School of Film and Digital Media in Galway in the West of Ireland. He is currently working on a number of projects including a short musical set in the West of Ireland.

SOTTO IL MIO GIARDINO (a.k.a. UNDER MY GARDEN)

SOTTO IL MIO GIARDINO (UNDER MY GARDEN) (Italy)

Marco, a 10-year old boy with a passion for insects, is convinced that his neighbour has killed his wife and has buried her under his garden, the evidence being a large ant-nest he has been carefully examining for a while. He decides to carry out some investigations but only reveals his thoughts to his little friend, Sara.

Credits:
Director and Writer – Andrea Lodovichetti
Writers – Luca Caprara, Roberto Santini
Actors – Stefano Bottone, Alessandra Pellegrino, Max Amato, Katia Nani, Dino Spinella, Kasia Zurakowska, Gisella Spinelli
Producer – Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia

Filmmaker Bio:
Andrea Lodovichetti was born in Fano (Italy) in 1976. He graduated in Film Directing from the Experimental Centre of Cinematography – National School of Cinema in Rome. He has been working with director Paolo Sorrentino since 2005. He is the director of “L’Amico di Famiglia” (Family Friend) and “Il Divo” (in competition at Cannes this year). He has written and directed several shorts and won international awards from all over the world. In particular, he was awarded the first prize and best short prize for “Untitled, Storie senza Nome” (a.k.a. Untitled, Stories without a Name) respectively at the European Emerging Film Makers Festival and the Virginia International Film Festival in 2003. Sotto il mio Giardino (Under my Garden) (2007) was one of the “most debated films” in the “on the lot” competition organised by Steven Spielberg. Founder with Luca Caprara of Lobecafilm, he has produced and shot several spots and documentaries.