SENZA FRONTIERE WITHOUT BORDERS FILM FESTIVAL

steering committee Fiamma Arditi, Janina Quint, Mariam C. Said, Danae Elon

selection committee Shoja Azari, Ellen Brodkey, Larry Kaplan, Nathan Kensinger, David Lieber, Verena Lueken, Sandro Manzo, Lizbeth Marano, Najla Said, Rasha Salti

advisors Guy Borlee, Emanuela Cascia, Marina Fabbri, Giorgio Gosetti, Mirella Haggiag, Iman Sabbah, Jordi Torrent, Anthony Weintraub

scientific committee Caroline Baron, Bernardo Bertolucci, Carroll Bogert, Francesco Casetti, Elena Dagrada, Valerio de Paolis, Shirin Neshat, Guglielmo Pescatore

under the patronage of UNESCO, Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Umbria Region, Comune di Spoleto, University of Bologna - DAMS, University for Foreigners of Perugia, University of Perugia, Agiscuola

sponsors Roma Capitale Commissione delle Elette, Intesa San Paolo, Postevita, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore, Rai Educational, Rai Cinema, Aliance of Civilizations (AoC), Associazione per la Pace, Viticoltori Ponte, Poltrona Frau, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), Plural +, Meltinsounds, The Sign Studio Foodhouse, Fandango, Rainbow, RC Productions, Tna, from women to donna, La Parrina, Speranza, Fattoria Il Secondo Altopiano, GastronomItaly, Hotel Clitunno, Uliveto - Rocchetta, Progetto Artiser, Alexander Papachristou & Anne Detjen, Raffaella Cribiore, James & Kathrine Goodman Family Philanthropic Fund

we thank friends, companies and institutions that made the realization of Senza Frontiere possible and in particular Carlo Dubini, Lilli Garrone, Paolo Fallai, Aldo Grasso, Guendalina Ponti, Markus Nikel, Huberta von Voss, Bill Freston, Sonia Folin, Francesco Lopez, Maria Gioacchino, Carlo Lanfranchi, Emanuele Pescatori, Valeria Bucci, Anna Magistrelli, Paolo Mastrorosato & Pamela Coppola, Simonetta Pacifico, Mauro & Giovannella Tinello, Frida Russo, Fausta Gaetani, Luca Ricci, Maria Rita Cardarelli, Marina Manzo, Teresa Guerra, Theresa Marqueta, Schawna Ferrato, Rachael Sandweiss, Isabel Correa, Edna & Francisco from Luz.

Without Borders is dedicated to films that show how much human beings have in common.

Without dignity we lose our humanity and yet all over the world human beings are continually deprived of their right to self-determination. The films selected this year tell of the moral courage needed to to preserve one′s dignity.

Freedom, morality, and the dignity of the individual consist exactly in this: in doing good not because one is obliged to to do it but because in all freedom one conceives it, wants it, and loves doing it.

Mikhail Bakunin

Without Borders/withoutborders is the film festival dedicated to films that show how much we human beings have in common. We are all trapped in political, economic, religious structures that divide us and make us suffer, but filmmakers with cinema have the opportunity to tell stories of human beings who manage to to overcome physical and mental barriers. For each edition a different theme: in 2009 the protagonist was Iran; in 2010 the privatization of water; in 2011 the concept of home, which also implies refugees and the homeless. This year the focus is on the concept of DIGNITY: if we do not respect it, we lose our humanity. The festival will open with the national premiere of Peter Weir′s film The Way Back, and will continue with stories by authors from from different cultures and worlds on the same thread that unravels across time and place. Over three days, films of all genres will be programmed: features, documentaries, shorts and animation films. Meaningful stories that know how to be heard and create in the viewer awareness of the problems of our time, without preaching or pointing fingers. This is not a market-place festival; the real goal is to inspire and create awareness. Among the expected films: Werner Herzog′s Into the Abyss, dedicated to prisoners on death row in U.S. penitentiaries; Shirin Neshat′s OverRuled, the video from the eponymous opera play presented at the 2012 Performa Biennial, inspired by the themes of justice and the artist′s struggle against the restrictions of an autocratic regime; Rebecca Cammisa′s God is to Bigger Elvis, about 1950s Hollywood actress Dolores Hart, who after working with Montgomery Clift, Robert Wagner, Elvis Presley, at the height of her career became a nun and has been mother abbess of the Benedictine convent Regina Laudis to Bethlehem in Connecticut since 2001; Free Men by Algerian director Ismaël Ferroukhi, set to Paris during World War II, where an Arab immigrant achieves resistance through an unexpected friendship with a Jewish musician; Son of Babylon by Iraqi director Mohamed Al Daradji, which tells the story of a child traveling with his grandmother in search of the remains of his father who never returned to home from the war. In anticipation of the July dates, a small taste of the excitement that Senza Frontiere/withoutborders will have on June 25, 2012 at the Casa del Cinema in Rome with a special day sponsored by the Commission of the Elect, with screenings and discussions dedicated to the role of women in Islamic culture: the day will open at 6 p.m. with the screening of Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy′s short film Saving Face, which won the 2012 Oscar and addresses the issue of Islamic women being punished with acid and scarred to life. to follow the panel discussion chaired from Monica Cirinnà, alderman of the Commission of the Elect, and led by journalist Iman Sabbah. The program will continue with a concert in the outdoor theater and will conclude with a screening of the film Cairo 6 7 8 by director Mohamed Diab.

Fiamma Arditi

FRIDAY JULY 6.

ORE 16.00

Son of Babylon, directed by Mohamed Al Daradji, 2010 Iraq, UK, France, Netherlands, UAE, Egypt, Palestine, 91′, with Shazada Hussein, Yasser Talib, Bashir Al Majid.

After the fall of Saddam Hussein, a Kurdish child travels with his grandmother to the remote areas of northern Iraq in search of his father. They find themselves in the chaos of the country and discover they are not alone.

ORE 18.00

Saving Face, directed by Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, 2012 USA, Pakistan, 40′

2012 Oscar for best documentary

Every year in Pakistan at least 100 women are victims of acid attacks. Most cases go unreported. The film - an inside look at Pakistani society - chronicles the opposition faced from those fighting to change the country′s reality.

ORE 19.00

God is The Bigger Elvis, directed by Rebecca Camisa, 2011 USA, 37′, with Dolores Hart

2012 Oscar nominee

Incredible glimpse into the life of a successful actress who leaves Hollywood to join the community of Benedictine nuns at Regina Laudis Abbey in Connecticut.

ORE 20.00

Concert dedicated to the 2012 theme of WITHOUT BORDERS/withoutborders DIGNITY, by Angelica Ponti, Giulia Salsone, Stefano Nunzi Trio (voice, guitar, double bass).

The Trio will offer reworkings, musical research on original pieces and jazz reinterpretations of compositions drawn from from different traditions. A common path to explore, tell, enhance, respect rhythms, sounds, atmospheres and stories of other peoples.

ORE 21.00

The Way Back, directed by Peter Weir, 2010, USA, United Arab Emirates, Poland 133′, with Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell.

Epic film about a group of men who escape from a forced labor camp in Russia in 1941. Their imprisonment and journey to freedom challenge their limits as human beings.

SATURDAY, JULY 7

ORE 16.00

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, directed by Göran Hugo Olsson, 2011, Sweden, 100′, with Angela Davis

From 1967 to 1975, a group of Swedish TV journalists traveled to the United States collecting unedited testimonies from African-American artists, activists, and scientists. The documentary chronicles the social struggles of the Black Power movement while documenting the complex human dimension of racism.

ORE 18.00

OverRuled, directed by Shirin Neshat, 2012, USA, 10´ 28´, with Mohammad Ghaffari, music by Mohsen Namjoo, poems by Rumi.

Inspired by the themes of the artist′s battle against the restrictions of an autocratic regime. Originally written from Shoja Azari and Behrang Azari for the homonymous opera theater presented at the 2012 Performa Biennial.

ORE 18.30

K, directed by Shoja Azari, 2002, USA, Iran, Morocco, 85′, with Mohammed Ghaffari, Shirin Neshat, Shahram Karimi, Oz Phillips, Rick Poli.

A contemporary journey into human drama, a black-and-white trilogy based on three short stories by Franz Kafka.

ORE 20.00

Free Men, directed by Ismael Ferroukhi, 2011 France 99′, with Tahar Rahim, Michael Lonsdale, Mahmud Shalaby

In Nazi-occupied France, a young Algerian man is arrested by the Police and forced to to spy on a Parisian mosque. An encounter with an African Jew turns him into a freedom fighter.

SUNDAY, JULY 8

ORE 16.00

Plural + Selection, 2011, 12′ 34".

Plural + invites young people from around the world to address issues such as integration, identity, diversity, and human rights. This year′s selection of video projects features works from from Italy, Malaysia, Kenya, Mexico.

Into the Abyss, directed by Werner Herzog, 2011 USA, UK, Germany, 107′.

Documentary about prisoners sentenced to to death in Texas, the film tells of Michael Perry and his accomplice Jason Burkett, convicted of triple murder during an attempted carjacking.

ORE 18.00

Cairo Exit, directed by Hesham Issawi, 2011 Egypt, 100′, with Mohamed Ramadan, Maryhan, Ahmed Bidder.

Conceived when Mubarak was still in power, it addresses the dramatic social and cultural taboos of Cairo′s diverse population by chronicling the plight of women.

ORE 20.00

Ispansi, directed by Carlos Iglesias, 2011, Spain, 115′, with Esther Regina, Carlos Iglesias, Eloisa Vargas, Isabel Blanco, Inaki Guevara

The journey of three thousand children transferred to Russia during the Spanish Civil War. Little-known chapter of 20th century ideological savagery.

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