CUSTODI DI GUERRA GATEKEEPERS OF WAR
by Zijad Ibrahimovic
a ventura film production in coproduction with RSI-Radiotelevisione svizzera
CUSTODI DI GUERRA GATEKEEPERS OF WAR
documentary by Zijad Ibrahimovic
World Premiere 62
ndLocarno International Film Festival Ici & Ailleurs
OFFICIAL SCREENING: La Sala, August 10
th at 16:15SECOND SCREENING: Rialto 3, August 11
th at 22:00the screening will be part of a special event organized by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
in collaboration with the Locarno International Film Festival to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions
ventura film al castello ch-6866 meride [email protected] www.venturafilm.ch contact in Locarno: Nicola Bernasconi +41 79 820 83 88
CUSTODI DI GUERRA GATEKEEPERS OF WAR
sinossi Un uomo torna al suo paese per un funerale: hanno trovato i genitori in una fossa comune. Tornare dopo ventʼanni significa cercare delle risposte. La guerra però non lascia risposte, lascia domande. La casa dalla quale era partito è stata vissuta da altri, poi è stata abbandonata. Porta sui muri i segni della violenza e del ricordo.
Osservandone gli spazi lʼuomo cerca il senso degli eventi.
I ricordi si sovrappongono alle immagini logorate di una vecchia videocassetta: la quotidianità di un paese che non avrebbe mai immaginato la guerra.
A modo suo lʼuomo si ritrova ad interrogarsi sul significato di parole come casa, origine, fuga, guerra, esilio, futuro, pace. Per scoprire che “forse lʼunica verità è che il paese non si è spostato, è rimasto ad aspettarmi, senza fretta. Eʼ come se sapeva che prima o poi ci sarei tornato. A farci i conti.“
synopsis A man returns to his homeland for a funeral. The bodies of his parents were discovered in a mass grave. Someone who returns home after twenty years is looking for answers. War, however, does not offer answers, it produces questions.
The home he had left was lived in by other people and then abandoned. The walls of the house bear signs of violence, of memories. Looking at the rooms, the man searches for the meaning of the events.
Memories overlap with the worn out images on an old video tape- the every day routine of a town that could have never fathomed war.
In his own way, the man begins to question the meaning of the words home, roots, escape, war, exile, future and peace. He discovers that “maybe the only real truth is that my town has not changed, that it has stayed the same, waiting for me, without haste. Almost as if it knew that sooner or later I would have returned, to come to terms with the past.
CUSTODI DI GUERRA GATEKEEPERS OF WAR
dichiarazione del regista Fare nascere domande. Eʼ questo che ho cercato di fare in questo film. Raccontare la guerra senza mostrarne il lato violento che tutti conosciamo, evadere dalle immagini riprodotte sui giornali, alla televisione, tentare di utilizzare la memoria dello spettatore e su quella costruire una narrazione che dia la libertà di interpretare e criticare. Perché è così che lo spettatore potrebbe diventare il protagonista del film.
A volte il modo migliore per comunicare è la semplicità. Raggiungerla è un percorso tortuoso e comporta il confronto con il rispetto del soggetto, con il senso del tempo e con lʼapprofondimento tematico. Penso al film Custodi di guerra come ad un contenitore nel quale sono stati immessi indizi e suggestioni e nel quale lo spettatore riesce a districarsi interagendo con le immagini e con le parole.
directorʼs note
Generate questions. This is what I tried to do with this film. Recount the war without revealing the violent side we all know. Diverge from the images reproduced in the papers and on television and to try and use the audienceʼs memory to create a story that allows us to freely interpret and criticize. In this way, the audience becomes the protagonist of the film.
At times simplicity is the best form of communication. Yet at the same time, simplicity in itself is complicated to achieve and entails balancing respect for the subject, the sense of timing and elaboration on the theme. Gatekeepers of War is like a container that holds clues and suggestions that the audience is able to unscramble by interacting with images and words.
CUSTODI DI GUERRA GATEKEEPERS OF WAR
52ʼ digital beta stereo 16 : 9 color & b/w
original version Italian with English subtitles
production ventura film
in coproduction with RSI - Radiotelevisione svizzera
direction Zijad Ibrahimovich
text Flavio Stroppini
Zijad Ibrahimovich
camera Zijad Ibrahimovich
editing Francesco Jost
sound design / mix / music Alberto Morelli and Stefano Scarani Tangatamanu
color correction / online Patrick Lindenmaier Andromeda Film
producers Andres Pfaeffli
Elda Guidinetti
© ventura film 2009
CUSTODI DI GUERRA GATEKEEPERS OF WAR
Zijad Ibrahimovic
Nato nel 1978 a Loznica (ex-JU). Vive in Ticino (Svizzera) dal 1992.
2004-2007
CISA - Conservatorio Internazionale di Scienze Audiovisive, Lugano
2005 Come fate a vedere le rondini, documentario, BETA digitale, 25ʼ 2007 Anche i fiori a volte, documentario, BETA digitale, 15ʼ, film di diploma.
Locarno IFF, Pardi di domani concorso svizzero
2009 Custodi di guerra, documentario, BETA digitale, 52ʼ, colore e b/n, ventura film in coproduzione con RSI - Radiotelevisione svizzera
invitato al 62° Locarno IFF, Ici & Ailleurs
Zijad Ibrahimovic
Born in 1978 in Loznica (ex-JU), has lived in Tessin (Switzerland) since 1992.
2004-2007
CISA - Conservatorio Internazionale di Scienze Audiovisive, Lugano.
2005 Come fate a vedere le rondini, documentary, digital BETA, 25ʼ
2007 Anche i fiori a volte, documentary, digital BETA, 15ʼ, graduation film.
Locarno IFF, Leopards of Tomorrow Swiss competition
2009 Custodi di guerra, documentary, digital BETA, 52ʼ, colour & b/n, ventura film in co-production with RSI - Radiotelevisione svizzera
selected at 62nd Locarno IFF, Ici & Ailleurs
ventura film
al castello CH-6866 Meride [email protected] www.venturafilm.ch
ventura film produces, mainly in collaboration with European partners, both fiction and documentary work. Ever since its beginnings in 1991 the main aim has been to focus on productions which, in form and content, explore and cross new boundaries.
select filmography
2000 NO QUARTO DA VANDA by Pedro Costa, 35mm, 169ʼ Co produced with Contracosta, Pandora, RTP, ZDF, RTSI
Awards: Locarno International Film Festival: prix du jury des jeunes, special mention official jury, mention jury of cinéclubs - Cinéma du Réel Paris: prix de la Bibliothèque - Yamagata International Documentary Festival: FIPRESCI prize - Cannes Film Festival 2002: France Culture Award, Foreign Cineaste of the Year - Valencia Film Festival: best cinematography
2002 ANGEL ON THE RIGHT by Djamshed Usmonov, 35mm, 89ʼ
Co produced with Fabrica Cinema, ArtCam, Asht Village, RTSI, Rai Cinema Official selection Cannes 2002, Un certain regard
Awards: London Film Festival: FIPRESCI prize - Tokyo Film Festival: special jury prize - Angers European First Film Festival: special jury prize - Singapore International Film Festival: best Asian director - Bratislava International Film Festival: best actor & Ecumenical jury prize - Tromsø International Film Festival:
Aurora award and Don Quixote award - Nika award for best CIS and Baltics film - Wiesbaden goEast: special mention
2004 LOS MUERTOS by Lisandro Alonso, 35mm, 78ʼ
Co produced with 4L, Fortuna Films, Slot Machine / ARTE, RTSI Official selection Cannes 2004, Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
Awards: Torino Film Festival, best film - Cinédécouvertes (Belgique): Golden Age award - Viennale 2004: Standard Readerʼs prize & FIPRESCI prize - Karlovy Vary International Film Festival: Czech Television award for the Forum of Independentsʼ best film - International Yerevan Film Festival: jury special prize - International Film Festival Santiago de Chile: best film - Festival Paysages de Cinéastes de
Chatenay Malabry: special jury prize & best photography - Lima Latin American Film Festival: critics award
2005 DIE GROSSE STILLE (INTO GREAT SILENCE) by Philip Groening, 35mm, 164ʼ Co produced with Philip Gröning Filmproduktion, BR, ARTE/ZDF, SSR/RTSI Awards: Sundance Film Festival: special jury prize - Bayerischer Filmpreis 2005:
best documentary film - German Critics award - Nomination Deutscher Filmpreis - prix Arte best European documentary 2006 - Deutscher Kamerapreis - Premio Ennio Flaiano: best camera & best film - German Films: film of the year - Sao Paulo International Film Festival: jury prize
2006 JUVENTUDE EM MARCHA by Pedro Costa, 35mm, 155ʼ Co produced with Contracosta, Unlimited, ARTE, RTP, RTSI Official selection Cannes 2006, Competition
Awards: Los Angeles Film Critics Association award: Independent/Experimental Film&Video award
VOLEVO SOLO VIVERE by Mimmo Calopresti, 35mm, 75ʼ
Co produced with Shoah Foundation, Rai Cinema, Gagè ,Wildside media, RTSI Official selection Cannes 2006, out of competition
2007 FUORI DALLE CORDE (OUT OF BOUNDS) by Fulvio Bernasconi, 35mm, 86ʼ Co produced with ITC Movie, Bianca Film, Rai Cinema, RTSI.
Awards: Locarno International Film Festival, Silver Leopard (ex aequo) for best actor, Michele Venitucci - Brooklyn International Film Festival: best
cinematography - Santa Marinella Film Festival: best film - Annonay International Film Festival: best music - Nomination: Swiss Film Prize for best feature film SALATA BALADI by Nadia Kamel, Digital Betacam, 104ʼ
Co produced with Snooze Productions, Les Films dʼIci, Citizen Production, RTSI Locarno International Film Festival 2007, Ici & ailleurs
Awards: San Francisco Arab Film Festival: best documentary - Mumbai International Film Festival: best long documentary & FIPRESCI award - National Film Festival, Egypt: Certificate of Merit
DUTTI DER RIESE by Martin Witz, 35mm, 94ʼ Co produced with RTSI, Teleclub
Locarno Interntional Film Festival 2007, Ici & ailleurs Awards: Filmprize City of Zurich - Nomination Prix Walo VOGLIAMO ANCHE LE ROSE by Alina Marazzi, 35mm, 81ʼ Co produced with Mir Cinematografica, Rai Cinema, RTSI Locarno International Film Festival 2007, Piazza Grande Awards: Nomination David di Donatello: best documentary
2009 SEGRETI E SORELLE (SECRETS AND SISTERS) by Francesco Jost, HD, 82ʼ Co produced with RSI-Radiotelevisione svizzera
Solothurn Film Festival - Bergamo Film Meeting, in competition MIRNA by Corso Salani, Digital Betacam, 75ʼ
Co produced with Vivo Film, Corso Salani, in partnership with Fuori Orario, RAI Tre and RSI-Radiotelevisione svizzera
Locarno International Film Festival, Filmmakers of the Presentʼs competition CUSTODI DI GUERRA by Zijad Ibrahimovic, Digital Betacam, 52ʼ
Co produced with RSI-Radiotelevisione svizzera Locarno International Film Festival, Ici & ailleurs
