One fateful morning, as seven-year-old Ezra skips his way to school he is kidnapped by rebels and taken into the jungle to be trained as a soldier. Seven years later, Ezra sits in front of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where he is asked to piece together a jigsaw puzzle of facts from the night of a devastating attack on a village. When Ezra's mute sister Onitcha, chooses to reveal a secret she has kept from her brother, what is supposed to be a confession of a former child soldier attempting to find internal peace after the horrors he has witnessed soon becomes a trial regarding his participation in Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war.

France/Nigeria/Austria, 2007, 110mins, drama, English, Newton I. Aduaka, dir.

FR AT WAN
2007
106 Minutes
Drama
LANGUAGE
English
WITH
Mamoudu Turay Kamara
Mariame N'diaye
Emile Abossolo-Mbo
Richard Gant
Wale Ojo
Mercy Ojelade
Mamusu Kallon
DIRECTOR
Newton I Aduaka
SCREENPLAY
Newton I Aduaka
Alain-Michel Blanc
CAMERA
Carlos Arango
EDITING
Sébastien Touta
SOUND
Alioune Mbow
MUSIC
Nicolas Baby
ART DIRECTION
Yann Dury
COSTUMES
Sophie Campana
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
Pierrick Le Pchat
Malek Hamzaoui
Juvens Ntampuhwe
LOCATION MANAGER
Manu Habiyarenye
CO-PRODUCERS
Michel Loro
Gorune Aprikian
Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu
PRODUCER/S
Gabriele Kranzelbinder
PRODUCTION
KGP
FORMAT
35mm
FUNDING
ARTE France
Centre National de la Cinématographie
RTR Fernsehfonds Austria
Fonds Sud - Ministère des Affaires étrangères
DISTRIBUTOR
Wide Management
less
Ezra
Newton I Aduaka
In the year 2000, it was alleged that some 300,000 children were serving as soldiers in armed conflicts in more than thirty countries around the world. Nearly 120,000 of these were allegedly engaged in various conflicts on the African continent.

EZRA is a factional tale inspired by the Sierra Leonean conflict. It is centred on one event: a drug fuelled atrocious attack on a village by rebel soldiers. The jigsaw puzzle of what occurred that night is reconstructed through the testimonies of three witnesses: Ezra, an ex-combatant, his sister Onitcha, a mute, and Cynthia, Ezra's fellow ex-soldier.

What is supposed to be reconciliation soon becomes a trial, as Onitcha chooses this as the arena to reveal a secret she has kept from her brother.



© ARTE France, CINEFACTO, KGP Filmporduktion, Pierre Javaux Productions, Sunday Morning Production


World premiere: Sundance Film Festival 2007 (Park City, USA)
Trailer

Awards

2007
Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso)
Grand Prix Etalon d'or de Yennega
United Nations Special Award for Promoting a Culture of Tolerance and Peace
Special Prize Burkina Prize for the Rights of the Child Special Prize of the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations (Inalco)
African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival (Milan, Italy)
Audience Award
Durban International Film Festival (Durban, South Africa)
Audience Award
Granada Film Festival "Cines del Sur" (Granada, Spain)
Best Directing
Rencontres Internationales (Paris/France, Berlin/Germany)
Preis der Jury
Amiens International Film Festival (Amiens, France)
Jury Prize
Audience Award
Lumières d'Afrique (Besançon, France)
Audience Award
Jury Prize

Festivals

2007
Sundance Film Festival (Park City, USA)
Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso)
African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival (Milan, Italy)
Cannes Film Festival (Cannes, France)
Granada Film Festival "Cines del Sur" (Granada, Spain)
Rencontres Internationales "Songes d'une nuit DV" (France)
Durban International Film Festival (Durban, South Africa)
La Rochelle International Film Festival (La Rochelle, France)
Gindou Film Festival (Gindou, France)
"Africa in the picture" Film Festival (Netherlands)
Festival do Rio (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil)
Barcelona Festival de Cinema Politic (Barcelona, Spain)
FILMFEST Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany)
Films from the South (Oslo, Norway)
Busan International Film Festival (Busan, South Korea)
Warsaw Film Festival (Warsaw, Poland)
BFI London Film Festival (London, UK)
Französischen Filmtage (Tübingen/Stuttgart, Germany)
Mostra de Cinemas Africanos (Spain)
Amiens International Film Festival (Amiens, France)
Kolkata International Film Festival (Kolkata, India)
Lumières d'Afrique (Besançon, France)
Afrikanische Filmtage (Saarbrücken, Germany)
Festival di Cinema Africano (Verona, Italy)
ZINEBI (Bilbao, Spain)
Kanema Film Festival (Lisbon, Portugal)
Havana Film Festival (Havana, Cuba)
Dubai International Film Festival (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
Caravan To Africa (Seoul, South Korea)

2008
Africa Alive Festival (Frankfurt, Germany)
Seville Three Cultures Foundation (Special Screening) (Sevilla, Spain)
FEMI Guadeloupe International Filmfestival (Guadeloupe)
Cascade Festival of African Films (Oregon, USA)
BLACK MOVIE Festival de films des autres mondes (Geneva, Switzerland)
CinemAfrica (Stockholm, Sweden)
AFRIKAMERA (Berlin, Germany)
Göteborg Film Festival (Gothenborg, Sweden)
Biennale Cinéma et Education "Cinéduc" (Grenoble, France)
CinemAfrica (Stockholm, Sweden)
Pan African Film Festival (Los Angeles, USA)
Mons International Film Festival (Mons, Belgium)
Vienna Forum on Human Trafficking (Vienna, Austria)
Ecocinema International Environmental Film Festival (Athen, Greece)
FEBIOFEST: International Film Festival Prague (Prague, Czech Republic)
Diagonale. Festival des österreichischen Films (Graz, Austria)
La Caravane des cinémas d'Afrique (Lyon, France)
AFRICALA - Festival de Cine Africano de la Ciudad de México (México)
Wild Cinema Windhoek International Film Festival (Windhoek, Namibia)
AfryKamera Film Festival (Warsaw, Poland)
Human Rights Nights (Bologna, Italy)
Donostia - San Sebastian Human Rights Film Festival (San Sebastian, Spain)
MOOOV Filmfestival (Turnhout, Belgium)
Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival (Kristiansand, Norway)
Human Rights Films Festival (Pamplona, Spain)
African Film Festival FCAT (Tarifa/Cadix, Spain)
Internationales Film Festival Innsbruck (Innsbruck, Austria)
SANFIC Santiago International Film Festival (Santiago, Chile)
Festival cinémas d'Afrique (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Take One Action (Edinburgh, UK)
AFRICAN SCREENS (Berlin, Germany)
Festival Jenseits von Europa (Köln, Germany)
Africa in Motion (Edinburgh, UK)
Carthage Film Festival (Tunis, Tunisia)
Al Kasaba International Film Festival (Palestinia, Israel)
Antirasistiska filmdagar (Malmö, Sweden)
Castellinaria (Bellinzona, Switzerland)
Just Film - Youth and Children's Film Festival (Tallinn, Estonia)
HUMAN AID 4 Life Filmtage (Vienna, Austria)
"African Perspectives" Special screening - major exhibition by Yinka Shonibare MBE - Museum of Contemporary Art at Dendy Opera Quays Sydney (Sydney, Australia)
Cinestar Filmverleih Special screening "FranCultures" (Vienna, Austria)

2009
Cycle de cinéma Africain "African Screens" (Lisbon, Portugal)
African Studies Film Festival (Madison, USA)
Helsinki International Film Festival (Helsinki, Finland)

2010
KINO AFRIKA FESTIVAL (Oslo, Norway)

FESTIVALS

2008 | 15th New York African Film Festival | NEW YORK, Usa | APRIL 9th to MAY 26th | www.africanfilmny.org |
> Selection


Sundance Film Festival.

Fespaco 2007
> Winner of the Golden Stallion de Yennenga
> INALCO Award
> UNFPA Award

________________________


DE
Ezra, ein ehemaliger Kindersoldat, hat den Krieg in Sierra Leone überlebt und versucht in einem Nachbarland, ein neues Leben zu beginnen. Bei einer Anhörung vor einer Versöhnungskommission wirft ihm seine Schwester vor, seine Eltern ermordet zu haben. Doch Ezra erinnert sich an nichts.

regie: Newton aduaka Nigeria, F, A 2006 102 min OmdU

FR AT WAN, 2007, Spielfilm, 106 Minuten, Drama

SPRACHE: Englisch

MIT
Mamoudu Turay Kamara
Mariame N'diaye
Emile Abossolo-Mbo
Richard Gant
Wale Ojo
Mercy Ojelade
Mamusu Kallon

REGIE
Newton I Aduaka

DREHBUCH
Newton I Aduaka
Alain-Michel Blanc


_______________________________


IT
Rapito dai ribelli della Blood Brotherhood, costretto a drogarsi e a compiere azioni disumane, innamorato di una guerrigliera che gli dimostra la ragionevolezza della loro lotta. La vita di Ezra, ex bambino soldato, è rimasta segnata indelebilmente dalla tragedia della guerra civile. Anche dopo molti anni dalla conclusione del conflitto, il ragazzo è ancora fortemente traumatizzato. Una commissione per la Verità e la Riconciliazione lo interroga sul suo passato, accusandolo di aver ucciso i suoi stessi genitori. Ma Ezra non ricorda, ha rimosso ogni dettaglio, vive in un presente di allucinazioni cercando di recuperare il passato.

Il regista Aduaka, dopo i successi del lungometraggio d'esordio'Rage', convince ancora con questa pellicola sul tema del ricordo. Il film ha vinto la ventesima edizione del Fespaco in Burkina Faso.

di Newton I. Aduaka
Nigeria/Francia/Austria - 2007, 103 min
inglese con sottotitoli in italiano

Regia: Newton I. Aduaka
Interpreti: Mamadou Turay Kamara, Richard Gant, Mariame N'Diaye, Mamusu Kallon, Mercy Ojelade


"Questi bambini hanno conosciuto l'inferno per dei giochi economici …. tutto ciò mi tocca profondamente, ed è questo che ha nutrito "Ezra". Il resto è cinema….."
N. Aduaka


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Fontes / Sources :
www.kgp.co.at/en/node/38