Ayiva recently left his home in Burkina Faso in search of a way to provide for his sister and daughter. He takes advantage of his position in an illegal smuggling operation to get himself and his best friend Abas off the continent. The migrants are captured by the Italian border police and taken to aliens centre. In order to stay in the ‘promised’ land Ayiva and Abas have to find contract work within three months, but when tensions with the local community rise, things become increasingly dangerous.
Filmmaker Jonas Carpignano’s feature debut graphically depicts Europe’s ruthless immigration policy.
"The goal for me was never to make something overly didactic and to try and change the policy in Italy. For me it’s enough if people stop looking at this as a group of migrants, or immigrants, and start thinking of them as individual people. I think that the more we can identify and see some of ourselves in their experience, the more compassion people will have." (Jonas Carpignano)
Jonas Carpignano
Born in 1984 in Roma, Italy, Carpignano spent his childhood between Rome and New York City. He is currently based in Italy and has been involved in filmmaking for the past five years. His work has been shown at prestigious festivals including the Cannes, Venice, and the New York film festivals. Carpignano’s feature debut, Mediterranea, has been screened in the Critics’ Week section of the Cannes Film Festival.
filmography
2011 A Chjána (short)
2014 A Ciambra (short)
2015 Mediterranea (Sredozemlje)