ABOUT THE DREAM IN (CASABLANCA, 2023)

 

Q &A with the director Adriano Valerio on the film (Casablanca). 2nd March, 2024, Ismailia, Egypt

Adriano Valerio - IMDb 

ABOUT THE DREAM IN (CASABLANCA, 2023):       

A short interview with the Italian director Adriano Valerio during the first premiere of his movie (Casablanca) in Egypt during Ismailia international film Festival, 28thFebruary - 5th March 2024. 

CASABLANCA: A Moroccan exile's efforts to return to Casablanca, after his hopes of building a better future in Europe are dashed.

Director and writer: Adriano Valerio 

Stars: Fouad Miftah and Daniela Brandi

production: Films Grand Huit, Dugong Films, Sayonara Film, Salt for Sugar Films, F Comme Film

"I met Fouad in a bar in Gubbio in 2016, he told me his story and I immediately felt the desire to make a documentary about him. I filmed him and Daniela from 2016 till 2022, between Umbria, Paris and Casablanca, trying to capture the most salient moments of their relationship, but also the depth of their souls, all the nuances of the suffering, humour and poetry that marked their lives. But how does time act on their existences? And how does it act in the cinematic narrative? I've tried to create a narrative and emotional flow that, regardless of time, would be able to reconstruct the exceptional nature of their relationship. Years and months blur together in a creative process that, freeing the story from its chronology, crystallizes its feelings. Casablanca is a story of love and mercy between two people who have built an atypical family, an island sheltered from the ignorance that surrounds them, an intimacy in which each manages, thanks to the other, to free themselves from society's exclusion." [Adriano Valerio]

Q: I noticed something about a (dream) that was repeated mainly at the end of the documentary.

 
A: Yes, the dream was surviving. The main character (Fouad) was so close to dying. He suffered so much. When we speak about (dream), we generally speak about something fantastic. However, for them (Fouad and Daniela), the dream was to survive in a decent situation and a decent way of living by resilience. When we are together, they try to accomplish their dream, by comforting each other by eating something they like or listening to the music they love. Both were so lonely, suffered from medical and social troubles in their life.

Fouad Miftah and Daniela Brandi trying to have happiness
 (from the trailer of Casablanca) 

Q: You met Fouad by chance in a café. In addition, you got the first line of this long journey. How many other refugees or displaced persons are similar in their social situation to Fouad and Daniella even with no social or medical problems?  Would you make a new movie about their dreams?

Fouad Miftah in Casablanca 

A: I come from a county that is well known for many decades as a country of migrants. To be migrants not refugees. Italy is a country with many generations of migrants. My first future film, (Banat – the journey) about Ivo, an agronomist from Brindisi (in Italy) during Perosony Silvio Berlusconi (1936-2023) and with no job opportunities, agrees to move refugees. However, the story of Fouad touched me so much.

Q: Lastly, the ward winning docudrama (Io capitano (lit. 'Me Captain' in Italia) 2023 drama film directed by Matteo Garrone, I hope you get more awards for your movie. All the best.

A: Thank you. 

NB:  
Silvio Berlusconi: politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011.
 

Adriano Valerio teaches Directing at École Louis Lumière, EICAR and Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts. His shorts premiered in Cannes (37°4S, Special Mention 2013), Venice Orizzonti and TIFF and won a David di Donatello (37°4S, 2014) and a Nastro d’Argento (Calcutta 8:40AM, 2023). His first feature film Banat – The Journey, premiered at International Critics’ Week - Venice (2015) and travelled to more than 70 International Festivals, receiving various awards. His documentary Casablanca (2023) premiered at Giornate degli Autori, Venice. He directed two episodes of the TV series Squadra Criminale, broadcasted on Arte and Rai.

The Sniper by W. D. Cocker

W. D. Cocker 1882 - 1970

The Sniper: A Scottish wartime poem about loss and a one-sided view of trench warfare and its futility. There were boys on both sides of no-man's land who missed home. Also, go and watch 1917 and the 2022 release of All Quiet on the Western Front. Both are truly excellent films about the horrors that most generally only consider on the 11th day of the 11th month, though we should make an effort to remember more often.  Lest we forget. (Noah Tolhurst).

The Sniper is a World War I poem by Scottish poet W D Cocker, written in 1917 about the impact a sniper has had not only on the life of the young soldier but also on that soldier's family back home. It is not revealed which side the sniper is on, as the deed is the same, whether the victim is German or British. This poem shows Cocker's dissatisfaction with what was becoming almost anonymous cold-blooded killing from varying distances (200 yards within the poem) - a far cry from battles before the age of industrialisation, when soldiers and warriors fought face to face, with the stronger individual emerging the victor.

The Sniper

W. D. Cocker

Two hundred yards away he saw his head;
He raised his rifle, took quick aim and shot him.
Two hundred yards away the man dropped dead;
With bright exulting eye he turned and said,
‘By Jove, I got him!’
And he was jubilant; had he not won
The meed of praise his comrades haste to pay?
He smiled; he could not see what he had done;
The dead man lay two hundred yards away.
He could not see the dead, reproachful eyes,
The youthful face which Death had not defiled
But had transfigured when he claimed his prize.
Had he seen this perhaps he had not smiled.
He could not see the woman as she wept
To hear the news two hundred miles away,
Or through his every dream she would have crept,
And into all his thoughts by night and day.
Two hundred yards away, and, bending o’er
A body in a trench, rough men proclaim
Sadly, that Fritz, the merry, is no more.
(Or shall we call him Jack? It’s all the same.)

---

W. D. Cocker

from Poems Scots and English (Brown, Son & Ferguson, 1932) 

الحمض النووي للكرامة" "The DNA of Dignity"

يعرض الفيلم "الحمض النووي للكرامة" في مهرجان #سراييفو السينمائي.

باللغة الإنجليزية. 

تدور أحداثه عن العمل الدقيق لخبراء الطب الشرعي في اللجنة الدولية لشؤون المفقودين  ICMP للتعرف على المفقودين من حرب التسعينات في #البوسنة والهرسك.

 تمكنوا من التعرف على 75% من 000 30 شخص أبلغ عن فقدهم. 

 يستمر البحث عن 7,500 من المفقودين المتبقيين.

THE DNA OF DIGNITY

THE DNA OF DIGNITY

THE DNA OF DIGNITY

THE DNA OF DIGNITY

THE DNA OF DIGNITY

THE DNA OF DIGNITY

THE DNA OF DIGNITY

In the anonymity of the mass graves, a team of forensic scientists is looking for the last usable traces of human DNA. Their goal: to give the victims back their names and dignity.

SYNOPSIS

In the anonymity of the mass graves, a team of forensic scientists is looking for the last usable traces of human DNA. Their goal: to give the victims back their names and dignity.

The Balkan War of the nineties resulted in the disappearance of thousands of people; their remains possibly missing forever. Survivors and those left behind pin their hopes on excavations and scientific work. Forensic anthropologists and archaeologists work with great concentration. A person takes shape bone by bone. Will they also get an identity? Will relatives finally receive closure and a grave to anchor their remembrance and grief?

#sarajevo

Director

Jan Baumgartner

Writer

Jan Baumgartner

Languages: English

Art and war: vodcast series-

Art and War: vodcast series- episode 1

CC: Video translated in many languages: Active the subtitles by clicking the CC icon on the bottom right. Then, select a subtitle language : Support our work by SHARING, SUBSCRIBING, and YOUR COMMENTS.

History, art and literature from my twitter

Irish Family Eating a Meal of Potatoes and Milk, 1917. The "Irish" potato is not originally from Ireland but from South America (specifically Peru and Bolivia), where the Indigenous people have been growing it for thousands of years. After the Spanish conquistadors invaded the region during the 16th century, they brought the potato back to Europe where it eventually became a popular food crop by the 19th century. During the 1840s, a potato blight began to infect all the potatoes throughout Europe. The Irish were hit particularly hard because they almost solely subsisted on potatoes. They were mostly tenant farmers who were allocated a small plot of land in return for working on the lands of their landlords. Potatoes were easy to grow in a small area and were cheap, filling, and less prone to spoilage, so it became the perfect food source for the poor. At the height of the Irish famine in 1847, the British landowners continued the exportation of food from Ireland to England and Scotland, which only exacerbated the situation. England refused to enact any sort of export ban. Approximately 1 million Irish people died due to starvation. In the same year, the Choctaw people managed to scrape together $170 (worth $4,800 today) to send to Ireland for famine relief. Just 16 years prior, the Choctaw had been removed from their lands and made to walk the "Trail of Tears" in which as many as 4,000 men, women, and children died due to starvation, disease, and exposure. The Ottoman Empire also sent ships stocked with food but were turned away by the British. They had to covertly transport their supplies into a small town, 70 miles north of Dublin, in order to feed the starving Irish. Sultan Abdulmeiid I also offered to donate 10,000 British pounds (worth $1.3 million today), but Queen Victoria refused to accept as she had already donated 2,000 British pounds and did not want to lose face. The sultan begrudgingly lowered his offer to 1,000 British pounds.

7:33 PM · Jul 25, 2023

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9.6M

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 The wind cuts through my threadbare coat, my fragile body huddled in the grimy alleyway, eyes locked on the posh restaurant across the street. Crystal chandeliers twinkle, laughter rings out, the scent of rich food wafts towards me, an unwelcome reminder of my gnawing hunger.

I clutch the tattered rugs tightly, remnants of a life that was, each thread a memory of little Sammy and Teddy. They're gone now, taken by the cold grip of hunger, their faces forever etched in my heart. Their spirits remain, little whispers on the wind, forever with me. "Look, Ellie," Sammy's voice, tender as a summer breeze, floats in my ear, "They're eating ice cream, and it's so cold!" "Yes, Sammy," I respond quietly, a bitter smile crossing my chapped lips. "They're different from us, you see. For them, eating ice cream in winter is an adventure, a luxury." Teddy, the quiet observer, speaks next, his voice barely above a whisper. "Do they know, Ellie? About us, I mean." A lump forms in my throat, the unfairness of it all threatening to drown me. "No, Teddy," I reply, my voice a hoarse whisper. "They don't see us." I feel a cold hand on mine, a phantom touch of comfort. Sammy again. "But you see us, Ellie. You always did." I nod, hot tears streaming down my face. "I saw you. I see you. And I'm so sorry...I tried to save you, to protect you..." "You did, Ellie," Teddy interrupts, his voice filled with a wisdom no five-year-old should possess. "It's not your fault." "But I should've..." I protest. "Ellie," Sammy's voice is soft, "Remember the stories you used to tell us? About the moon and stars and how they look after lost children?" I nod, the memory stinging. "Yes, I remember." "Well," Sammy's voice is growing fainter, "we're with them now. And they'll look after us, just like you did. We're not hungry anymore." "And we'll look after you too, Ellie," Teddy adds. "You're not alone." I close my eyes, their words a soothing balm. I am not alone. But I am invisible, just like they were. To the world beyond the alleyway, we don't exist. And yet, we do. We're survivors, battling each day, each moment, trying to find a semblance of hope in this unforgiving city. As the night deepens, I hold onto their memory, their voices a stark reminder of the world's indifference. Yet, within me, a spark flickers, a determination. My life, however difficult, however unnoticed, is not pointless. For Sammy and Teddy, for all the unseen children of this city, of this world, I will continue. I am their voice, their memory. And one day, I vow, we will be invisible no more.

Film Review: Documentary: Sarajevo, 1425 days of horror (draft)

Review and translation: Dr.  Eman Eltahawy

NB: Original articles and posts in Slovenian. I did my best to review and translate all data, to tell the truth about this Siege of Sarajevo. I think the same is applied to any siege in this unfair world. Kindly, share, and comment. 

Eman ElTahawy, Egypt 

3-4-2023 

Arabic Post 

 

Film: ( SARAJEVO, 1425 dni groze)- 2023- RTV Slovenija

 “In my career as a journalist, I've written many stories about people who have suffered terrible and horrible injustices. I have made stories about victims of cruel violence, and sexual abuse during childhood. However, I can say that I have never tackled something as difficult as this time." "It was difficult to talk to the families of the children killed in Sarajevo. Each one of those parents started crying, and then I cried too. It was truly shocking. Especially this feeling of incomprehensible frustration. Why did this have to happen? Why this boy or that girl did has to die? -Film director and journalist, Jelena Aščić.

 

How can a sniper watch people and children walking their way in search of water, then decide to take their lives, and fire? When he fired the grenade, he knew exactly where and at whom he was shooting. It was intentional, not a coincidence nor a bingo. There was no accident or random mess. They planned to kill the children; their neighbors. Those were their neighbors! What a policy of hatred that makes people worse!" 

  

Bosnian Women and Children in the water line, 1992.

 

Film name in Slovenian: (SARAJEVO, 1425 dni groze).
Film duration: 51 minutes
Film Director: Jelena Aščić,
Cameraman: Gregor Naglav,
Editor: Sabina Černe.

Journalist Jelena Aščić and photographer Gregor Naglav recorded shocking testimonies from people who were under a suffocating siege for nearly four years. How life was without electricity, water, or food? What kind of life was it with the constant threat of death by all kinds of weapons from all sides of the city's surrounding hills? They were immensely grateful that their children would not be forgotten, and that their names would be mentioned on Slovenian television. 

 

Note: The siege of Sarajevo (Serbo-Croatian: Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After the city was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav People's Army, the city was then besieged by the Army of Republika Srpska. Lasting from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 (1,425 days), it was three times longer than the Battle of Stalingrad, more than a year longer than the siege of Leningrad, and was the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare (Wikipedia). 

Sieges involve surrounding the target to block the provision of supplies and the reinforcement or escape of troops. This is typically coupled with attempts to reduce the fortifications using siege engines, artillery bombardment, mining (also known as sapping), or the use of deception or treachery to bypass defenses. Failing a military outcome, sieges can often be decided by starvation, thirst, or disease, which can afflict either the attacker or defender. This form of siege, though, can take many months or even years, depending upon the size of the stores of food the fortified position holds. (Wikipedia). 

 

The team made 16 interviews over 4 days in different locations. The director avoided politicizing the events that took place 30 years ago. She thinks the politician took their chances. Therefore, it is time to concentrate on the situation of ordinary people in their daily lives, who suffered in concentration camps, siege, and lost their loved ones. Their lives turned upside down because of this siege. Those people are more convincing than politicians are.

 

People talked about the tremendous pain that parents endured when shrapnel from grenades and sniper fire killed their children. No one has yet been held accountable for these crimes before the local courts. The film placed the film's interlocutors as a representative sample of their society, as they harbor no hatred towards anyone, but accept the past as a part of their lives for 30 years. However, they do not forget their loved ones. 

 

The director is a journalist, anchor, and screenwriter. For more than 20 years, she worked for Slovenian Radio and Television. She produced several shows and two documentaries: (Building the Slavery), about the exploitation of Bosnian construction workers, which won several awards, and (You Can't Tell Anyone), about child sexual abuse.

 

Jelena Aščić  & Gregor Naglav  © Večer

“I wanted to present their stories and experience the unimaginable horror,” says the director. “Snipers killed their children in front of their eyes. The people of Sarajevo had been without water, electricity, heat, or food for almost four years. Death has become part of their daily lives. Regardless of the agony that has lasted for years, we have forgotten almost everything in these 30 years. Perhaps that is why anxiety and new tensions of war arise. Atrocities are repeated despite the repetition of that flimsy/weak phrase that has lost its meaning "Never Again". We have such a short memory ". 

 

(Sarajevo, 1425 days of Horror) - RTV Slovenija

 

The opening and closing scenes are especially touching when each of the victims' families holds some pictures or belongings that remind them of their sons who left because of the siege. The tears of the parents at the end of the film along with the final sentences and the famous song are very touching.

The film includes some archival photos of the events of the Siege of Sarajevo including some graphic content. 

In one scene, a woman says: "They could stop everything in one hour, but they didn't want to! It was possible to preserve the lives of those children who were killed. We lived to remember, to learn. 

In other scenes, tears in the eyes of parents tell everything. 

Reception:

On its initial release, the Slovenian Television Media Programme (RTV-Slovenija.)premiered the film on the 14th of February, 2023. ‘Sarajevo, 1425 days of Horror’ will be screened on 12th April in the European Parliament, Brussels. It marks the 30th anniversary of the start of (the Siege of Sarajevo).  

To date, the film has been well received by the audience and gained positive comments. worldwide reviews are awaited after further translation into many languages. It is a symbol of the cruelty of the war.   

Below are samples of viewers' comments on social media platforms (Translated from Bosnian, and Slovenian):

In the documentary "Sarajevo 1425 Days of  Horror," we read the heartbreaking comments of naive peaceful advocates who call for peace, but who close their eyes ignorantly to the reality of neo-fascism and nationalism.

 After watching the shocking documentary, "Sarajevo 1425 Days of Horror", by Jelena Aščić, I think we shouldn't watch war quietly. we shouldn't consider it as far from us! Let's demand peace! Let's call for disarmament, not armaments! here, and everywhere around the world. 

This Film is a wonderful, shocking, and moving documentary. Tears flowed from the beginning to the end.

Great movie. I cried like rain. I could not watch it until the end. Blame all those who fired shots and sniper bullets and the silent international community without interference.

 A poignant movie. I felt all the grief/sadness, helplessness, and suffering these people experienced during the siege.

 Today, we have the same international hypocrisy, if compared to the current situation. 

Finally, some of the viewers compared the impact of  (the siege of Sarajevo and the aftermath of the Bosnian War) to past major events such as the Holocaust, and the current situation in Ukraine. They share the same policy of hatred and the same corrupted international policies leading to wars and massacres. Of note, no mention of any other current sieges worldwide in the comments. They may be unaware of the current sieges. 

Nevertheless, they shared the same inquiry: how do people drift to that level of inhumanity in wartime?  How did they kill innocent civilians and children through this stifling siege and deliberate sniping? How did that happen?  

References and Further Reading:

Opsada Sarajeva (02.04.1992 - 29.03.1996)

https://omgbulletin.com/world/320188.html

Facebook

https://www.rtvslo.si/.../dokumentarni-film.../657110

1425 dni groze Sarajevčanov - RTV SLO

https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/.../The-1425-days-of-Sarajevo

Jelena Aščić / »Česa tako težkega, kot je bilo to, pred tem nisem delala« | MLADINA.si

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

TV namigi: Sarajevo, 1425 dni groze, Vse tisto in FBI - Delo

   

Whaur Dae Ye Lie? Karine Polwart

Srebrenica mother by Robert Mcneil, MBE
 robertmcneil.co.uk  

NB: Thanks for the revision by Robert Mcneil MBE, and his wife Kathy.

Lyrics in Scottish then British English. 

Arabic Translation

ATTENTION: Read more
Nations United Magazine (srebrenica.org.uk)
Srebrenica Genocide Blog (srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com)
What happened in Srebrenica | Remembering Srebrenica
Remembering Srebrenica - Scotland - Posts | Facebook

Lyrics:

Whaur Dae Ye Lie
Where Do You Lie

by Karine Polwart
by Karine Polwart

Whaur dae ye lie, my faither?
Where do you lie, my father?

Whaur dae ye lie, my son? 
Where do you lie my son?

Whaur dae ye lie, my ane true love?
Where do you lie, my one true love?

When will the truth be won?
When will the truth be won?

Oor friends, they came tae protect us
Our friends, they came to protect us

Oor friends, they bade us bide
Our friends, they bade us to bide

Oor friends left us standing there naked
Our friends left us standing there naked

Wi' nae place left tae hide
With no place left to hide

Oor neighbors, they came wi a hundred year hate
Our neighbors, they came with a hundred-year hate

Oor neighbors, they came wi guns
Our neighbors, they came with guns

Oor neighbors, they came for oor menfolk
Our neighbors, they came for our menfolk

An they slew them, every one
And they slew them, everyone

I hae sought oot yer grave wi my mither
I had sought out your grave with my mother

I hae sought oot yer grave in vain
I had sought out your grave in vain

I hae sought the bare banes o the truth and the men
I had sought the bare bones of the truth and the men

Faither, whaur are ye lain?
Father, where are you lying?

I hae cried oot yer name tae the four winds
I had cried out your name to the four winds

I hae cried oot yer name 'til the dawn
I had cried out your name till the dawn

I hae cried in the arms o yer sister dear
I had cried in the arms of your dear sister

Whaur dae ye lie, my son?
Where do you rest, my son?

I hae dream'd o yer breath upon me
I had dreamed of your breath upon me

I hae dream'd o yer yellow hair
I had dreamed of your yellow hair

I hae dream'd o the sounds o yer dying, love
I had dreamed of the sounds of your dying, love

Whaur dae ye lie, my dear?
Where do you rest, my dear?

 

Srebrenica @ Ronald Ophuis

The song tells of the heart-wrenching questions that women were asking after Srebrenica. Karen Polwart was inspired to write this moving song after she heard three women from Srebrenica at a public meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland organized by a local support group in 1997/8.
Karen wrote this song while she was a member of the group Malinky and it appears on their first album, Last Leaves, 1999. It is an example of her ability to tackle difficult subjects with insight and compassion.


Srebrenica massacre under the collaboration of UN & Holland soldiers.
@Latuff 2017

In 1995, in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, Serbian forces separated civilian men from women – under the eyes of the UN peacekeepers – and massacred the men, who were mainly older and infirm. The younger men who had escaped to the forest were hunted down and killed. Mass graves were later found.