A Bit of a Stranger_Poster_small.jpg

Svitlana (52), the film's director and protagonist, grew up in Mariupol during the Soviet era, when all individuality was suppressed. Later, even living in Kiev in independent Ukraine, she was unable to find a clear self-identity, which influenced the fact that Svitlana's daughter Alexandra (28) grew up without an inner core and was therefore vulnerable to any propaganda.&nbsp;There are four generations of women in Svitlana's family, and each generation grew up under different political realities. Svitlana's mother, Valentina (76), has a more Ukrainian identity than Svitlana's daughter, who has a pro-Russian orientation. Time will tell who Sveta's granddaughter, Stephanie (2), will become.The family gathers in Kiev to celebrate little Stefania's birthday 10 days before the full-scale invasion. Valentina arrives in Kiev from Mariupol, destined never to return.&nbsp;The war destroys the family's life, its past and its future. The house where Valentina lived and where Svitlana and Alexandra grew up is destroyed, and in occupied Mariupol time begins to go back to the USSR.Alexandra and her daughter Stefania leave for the UK. Despite the war Alexandra continues to be in the Russian information field. Alexandra is comforted by the Russian language, as it is the only thing she has left from the past. Svitlana stays with Valentina in Kiev, where the fragile peaceful picture can be destroyed at any moment by the arrival of a Russian missile. With the onset of cold weather, power, heat, and communication blackouts begin. On dark winter evenings, Svitlana talks to Valia about the past. Images of life in a totalitarian society that was imbued with violence against the individual resurface before Svitlana.In London, Alexandra experiences a severe existential crisis, she feels lost, like a nobody. She starts visiting a psychologist to work through her resentment towards Svitlana. To support her, Valentina decides to leave Ukraine and join her granddaughter in the UK. Svitlana stays in Kiev, which is preparing for another dark and cold winter.

Together and one-by-one at the same time, four generations of Ukrainian women from one family embark on an emotional journey shaped by their newfound memories and family history.

Born in Mariupol in 1970, she worked for over 25 years for the leading television channels in Ukraine. In 2014, she opened a new chapter in her life by leaving television and immersing herself in screenwriting and filmmaking.&nbsp;Her first documentary works were short pieces for the INVISIBLE BATTALION anthology film in collaboration with the directors Alina Gorlova and Iryna Tsilyk. A BIT OF A STRANGER is her debut feature-length documentary and is based on her personal story.

Svitlana

Generation

Current Affairs & Politics

Author's Documentaries

Знімок екрана 2024-01-09 о 19.53.39.jpg

A Bit of a Stranger

English

The Secret Drawer_poster_small.jpg

Sicily, a world, a house, a library, a time capsule kept under lock and key.&nbsp;In January 2022, after having chosen to donate her journalist father’s vast collection of books and archival materials to the Central Library of Sicily, director Costanza Quatriglio returns to her family home in Palermo to welcome a team of archivists and librarians.&nbsp;&nbsp;And so begins a sentimental journey in the dwelling where she was born and raised. Through photographs, 8mm film and audio recordings from the 1940s onward, along with footage the director shot of her father 12 years prior, both a collective and personal memory come together.&nbsp;&nbsp;As the house is emptied of its belongings it is contemporaneously filled by a sea of memories, each remembrance tied not only to a life lived, but to a history of the 20th century. Sicily is an observation deck from which everything starts and to which all returns.The progressive vacating of the house further clarifies that only by knowing can one truly be capable of letting go, which in turn provides the catalyst for a rebirth of both the individual and the community.

A director takes a journey inside the house where she was born. As her journalist father’s home is emptied, private and collective memories wash over her and become a catalyst for rebirth. 

Director and screenwriter Costanza Quatriglio’s debut film was the multi-award-winning THE ISLAND, which premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival and was restored in 2023 by Cinecittà Studios in Rome.&nbsp;She has directed films and documentaries garnering awards at numerous international festivals including Venice and Locarno. She won two Nastro d’Argento awards with TERRAMATTA in 2013 and TRIANGLE in 2014. Her recent films are the highly successful TV Movie THE LITTLE GIRL WHO DIDN'T WANT TO SING and THE VIRUS SMUGGLER.

Costanza

Art & Culture

History

IlCassettoSegreto.jpg

Il cassetto segreto

The Secret Drawer

PUposter_nuova.jpg

Every night nameless bodies land in Dr. Cristina Cattaneo’s autopsy room. She calls them the Pure Unknown. These Pure Unknown often belong to the fringes of society. They are homeless, sex workers, runaway teenagers. Lately, they have mostly been migrants, rejected by the Mediterranean Sea onto the shores of Italy. If all rights belong to the living, nothing is left to the dead. So what happens when the dead have lost their identity? In the face of this growing multitude, no one seems concerned about their right to dignity. No one but Cristina. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Nameless bodies land in Cristina’s autopsy room. Lately, they have mostly been migrants, rejected by the Mediterranean Sea. No one seems concerned about their right to dignity. No one but Cristina.  

Valentina Cicogna worked as assistant director and assistant editing on the documentary NAPOLI PIAZZA MUNICIPIO by Bruno Oliviero, produced by Indigofilm and Point du Jour, winner in the Italiana Doc section at the Turin Film Festival in 2009. She is the screenwriter of the film LA VARIABILE UMANA by Bruno Oliviero, with Silvio Orlando and Giuseppe Battiston, produced by Rai Cinema, Lumiére &amp; Co., Invisibile Film, distributed by BIM.&nbsp;&nbsp;She was the editor of several documentaries feature films, including QUARTIERI CINESI, (Rai Cinema and Indigofilm), IL GIUDICE E IL SEGRETO DI STATO (Point du Jour and MIR) and MM MILANO MAFIA (Invisibile Film, distributed by Chiarelettere) by Bruno Oliviero, IL COMANDANTE by Enrico Maisto, 74 MIGLIA (Invisibile Film) by Laura Viezzoli, ALBERI CHE CAMMINANO (Oh! Pen) by Mattia Colombo, based on a subject by Erri De Luca, distributed by Feltrinelli; she worked as scriptwriter and editor of the documentary VOGLIO DORMIRE CON TE (Start and The Kingdom) by Mattia Colombo, winner of the Salani Award and the Filmmaker Competition "Nutrimenti terrestri, nutrimenti celesti", finalist of the Solinas Award.&nbsp;&nbsp;She edited the film RITMO SBILENCO by Mattia Colombo, presented at the Rome Film Festival and distributed by Feltrinelli, and the documentary IL PASSO (Start srl and Rai Cinema) by Alessandra Locatelli, Mattia Colombo and Francesco Ferri, in competition at the Nyon Festival.&nbsp;&nbsp;She is the author and editor of the documentary film LA CONVOCAZIONE (The Summoning) by Enrico Maisto, winner of the 2015 Solinas Documentary Award for Cinema, produced by Start srl and Rai Cinema. The film was selected in competition at the 58th Festival dei Popoli, where it won the MyMovies Audience Award, and at IDFA.&nbsp;&nbsp;The latest works are LA SCOMPARSA DI MIA MADRE by Beniamino Barrese, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2019, and BROTHERHOOD by Francesco Montagner presented in Locarno. PURE UNKNOWN is her directorial debut.&nbsp;

Valentina 

Mattia Colombo's first short film IL VELO was selected at Visions du Réel, EIFF Edinburgh Film Festival, AFI Silver Docs. The documentary ALBERI CHE CAMMINANO, written with Erri De Luca and distributed by Feltrinelli, was in competition at Festival dei Popoli, Slamdance Film Festival and Trento Film Festival. The documentary VOGLIO DORMIRE CON TE, winner of the Corso Salani prize, finalist at Filmmaker In Progress Lab, finalist at Premio Solinas Documentario per il Cinema and selected at Périphérie Cinéastes in Paris, participated in Cinéma du Réel and Biografilm Festival. The documentary IL PASSO, a Start and Rai Cinema production, was presented at Visions du Réel and broadcast on Rai and RSI.&nbsp; Mattia directed the film RITMO SBILENCO, a documentary on the Italian band Elio e le Storie Tese, a special event at the Rome Film Festival, distributed in Italian cinemas and on home video by Wanted Cinema. The documentary UNINVITED, a biographical film on Marcelo Burlon, fashion designer and outsider DJ, was released in Italian cinemas and distributed on home video by CG Entertainment.&nbsp; His most recent documentary, IL POSTO, was selected at Visions du Réel and Hot Docs. Mattia's current documentary PURE UNKNOWN, co-directed with Valentina Cicogna, is an Italy/Sweden/Switzerland production. The project was a finalist in the Solinas Documentary Award for Cinema, received support from MEDIA Europe, MiC, Trentino Film&nbsp;Commission, Piemonte Doc Film Fund, and was selected for the international workshop Dok.Incubator.As author and screenwriter, he is working on a crime series produced by The Family, inspired by the books of forensic scientist Cristina Cattaneo.&nbsp;

Mattia 

Human Interest & Society

Human Rights

Pure Unknown_filmframe 01.jpg

The Audience Award in the the International Competition of <a href="https://www.biografilm.it/en/">Biografilm</a> 2023 goes to <a href="https://filmharbour.com/films/pure-unknown">PURE UNKNOWN</a> by Valentina Cicogna and Mattia Colombo!&nbsp;&nbsp;In addition, protagonist Cristina Cattaneo received the Celebration of Lives Award 2023!From the jury statement:"A festival focused on biographies can only defend and position itself in listening to and defending human dignity. Cristina Cattaneo is a doctor, anthropologist, full professor of Forensic Medicine at the University of Milan and she runs Labanof, a laboratory of forensic anthropology and odontology.This award goes to her, for her work and her courageous struggle in recognising the profound value of the history of every human being.&nbsp;With care, mercy, perseverance."

Biografilm Audience Award for PURE UNKNOWN

The Audience Award in the the International Competition of Biografilm went to PURE UNKNOWN by Valentina Cicogna and Mattia Colombo! 

<a href="https://filmharbour.com/films/pure-unknown">PURE UNKNOWN</a> has won the Special Jury Award in the International Competition at <a href="https://dmzdocs.com/eng/">DMZ International Documentary Film Festival</a> in South Korea!&nbsp;The festival showcases films dealing with peace, coexistence and reconciliation.&nbsp;It doesn't stop there, as earlier this month it also received a special mention in the main competition at <a href="https://www.ajbdoc.ba/">AJB DOC Film Festival</a> in Sarajevo! The jury stated that “this extraordinary documentary delves into a profound human story. The authors of this film, through a powerful cinematic approach, depict the heroic struggle of one individual against the entire system.”

Jury Award & Special Mention for PURE UNKNOWN

Sconosciuti Puri

Pure Unknown

MFP Giusto .jpg

When Iván Simonovis becomes the first and most famous political prisoner in Venezuela, a 15-year period of imprisonment leaves devastating effects on his and his family’s lives. Living in exile as a filmmaker, his son Iván Andrés crafts a very personal and moving story, using over 25 years of unique family material, showing history from an angle never seen before.&nbsp; A family that had to overcome extreme hardship, a father that has to find his place in life again and a son that faces his traumas by inviting the viewer into the core of a wound that touched both his family and his entire country.

Iván Simonovis becomes the first and most famous political prisoner in Venezuela. His son Iván Andrés crafts a very personal and moving story, showing history from an angle never seen before. 

Iván Andrés Simonovis Pertiñez is a Venezuelan filmmaker exiled in Berlin.&nbsp;His work focuses on political persecution and exile. He has a degree in Communication Sciences from the University of Marburg and a Masters in Film from the Free University of Berlin. His documentary shorts for the web A LA DERIVA (2015), DESDE EL EXILIO (2017), and CARACAS 9 DE ENERO (2018) have appeared in international media outlets such as El País and Jungle World.&nbsp;His first feature documentary MY FATHER’S PRISON has been selected for the main competition at Vision du Reel.&nbsp;

Iván Andrés

MFP giusta.jpg

La Prisión de mi Padre

English 

My Father’s Prison

PL_O_auto_das_ánimas_2048px.jpeg

In a small village in Galicia in northern Spain, Pablo’s family lives attached to their ancient traditions and beliefs. Feeling that he did not fit into their world, Pablo left 20 years ago to become a filmmaker. But, as both he and his family are growing older, a restless feeling in him starts to get stronger, urging him to go back home to confront the ghosts of the past and find answers, in the limited time they still have together. As every autumn, his grandmother Alicia opens the doors of her house to continue the ancestral tradition of making “augardente”, a homemade-liquor. The house is prepared, the „augardenteiros“ arrive and the neighbors come join in ritual and celebration. Nothing seems to have changed, but everything is different. Alicia no longer has the same energy and enthusiasm. Santi, the augardenteiro who has been there for many years, seems to have lost the joy in life after many years of hard work. And the habit of Pablo’s parents to not talk about emotions makes it difficult for him to connect and fully grasp what is going on. Little by little the process of making the liquor, the vapors, the mists, the cold and the rain submerge Pablo into a journey that brings him back to his childhood, his old fears and all that haunts him. Alicia knows her grandson well, and although they seem to live in opposite worlds, she creates a new bond between them through her rites and beliefs. A connection that sets them both on their own journey.

In Galicia, Pablo's family lives attached to their ancient traditions. He left years ago to become a filmmaker. Now a restless feeling is urging him to go back home to confront the ghosts of the past. 

Pablo Lago Dantas is an experienced director of photography, a CamerImage best cinematography nominee whose films have made it to more than 100 official sections in prestigious international film festivals. In his visual language he is fascinated by the search for the subconscious, using his Galician connections to myth and rituals to add layers and depth to the mundane.&nbsp; O AUTO DAS ÁNIMAS is his first film as a director. An encounter with his place of origin and family, it is a journey through memory, tradition, the deconstruction of home, death and the passage of time.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Pablo 

OADA_still promo 01_light_website.jpg

Alternative English title: A House for Wandering Souls

English, Spanish 

O auto das ánimas

VIKA_B1_WEB_EN.jpg

84-year-old Vika is a true star of Warsaw nightclubs. As a charismatic and colorful DJ surrounding herself with young people she seems unstoppable and keeps repeating that age is just a number.&nbsp; But as Vika’s health starts to deteriorate she has to come to terms with the passing of time, finding purpose in bringing joy to other seniors – just as lonely as she is. Told with captivating musical parts, VIKA! is a bitter-sweet portrait of a woman who has to face aging, yet celebrating life till the very end.

Charismatic 84-year-old Vika is a DJ, and a true star of Warsaw clubbing scene. Facing the passing of time,  Vika repeats that age is just a number and inspires others to live life to the fullest.

Agnieszka Zwiefka is known to the audience thanks to her films: SCARS (2020) about women fighting the ranks of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and QUEEN OF SILENCE (2014) about a Roma deaf girl who escapes into the world of Bollywood fantasy. It was in&nbsp;QUEEN OF SILENCE that we saw a combination of a documentary and a musical for the first time. This original film language became the basis for creating the story about DJ Vika.&nbsp;Currently, Agnieszka is working on another documentary, RUNA, about a young girl-refugee, and on her fiction debut.&nbsp;She lives in Wrocław with her husband, two daughters and dogs. He lectures at the University of Wrocław. Makes great kimchi and ramen. She collects old kimonos and, like Vika, believes that it is never too late to live to the fullest.

Agnieszka 

Music

Vika_sfondo.jpg

Vika!

2-(8).jpg

Paris, summer 2018. Jacqueline Jencquel (74) lives a comfortable life in a splendid apartment in Saint-Germain. Apart from a few age-related ailments, she's in good health. And yet Jackie has decided to die. A mother, grandmother and dedicated right-to-die activist, she sparks a media frenzy by announcing that she will end herlife in January 2020.&nbsp;As the clock ticks, she faces the camera of one of her three sons. Taboos are broken in an honest exchange about death, love, desire and motherhood. Though determined to go ahead, she postpones her final act, in order to enjoy one last spring, one last summer. But when Jackie learns of the imminent birth of a grandchild, she begins to waver and she pushes back “the date” yet again.&nbsp;Seizing on this grace period, Jackie’s son records a series of increasingly meaningful encounters with his mother as he struggles to accept her decision and to learn to let go.

At 75, in good health and living a charmed life, Jackie is determined to end it on her own terms. Through a series of intimate conversations, her son questions whether he can or should dissuade her.

Tuki Jencquel was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1974 where he attended the German school. He has a degree in film from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Master of Business Administration from IESA, Venezuela. &nbsp;&nbsp;He founded Orinokia Filmproduktion in 2018 when he moved to Germany. As a director and cameraman he has worked with Deutsche Welle and for Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei.&nbsp;His first feature-length documentary, ESTÁ TODO BIEN, gives a rare voice to the victims of Venezuela’s public health system collapse. It was shown in the Best of Fests section at IDFA 2018 and won numerous international awards. JACKIE THE WOLF is his second documentary feature.&nbsp;&nbsp;He is a member of the German documentary association AG-Dok and a Eurodoc 21 alumni.&nbsp;

Tuki

Jackie the Wolf - Baudelaire.jpg

Jackie the Wolf

English, German, French

CTV_correct.jpg

His small oeuvre is pretty much all Johannes Vermeer, painter of iconic images and international favorites like The Girl with a Pearl Earring has left behind. CLOSE TO VERMEER follows Gregor Weber, curator at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, working on his last big dream before his retirement: setting up the largest Vermeer exhibition ever. Weber joins a number of Vermeer experts using the latest techniques in search of what makes a Vermeer truly Vermeer.&nbsp;New discoveries and passionate opinions are still capable of rousing the emotions.

Gregor Weber, curator at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, is working on his last big dream before his retirement: setting up the largest Vermeer exhibition ever.

Suzanne Raes has been working as an independent filmmaker for more than 20 years. Her early films a.o. THE HOUSES OF HRISTINA (2007), THE RAINBOW WARRIORS OF WAIHEKE ISLAND (2009), and THE SUCCESSOR OF KAKIEMON (2012) premiered at IDFA and won several awards at international film festivals. Her film COME CLOSER about Boudewijn de Groot received the IDFA Music Audience Award in 2015.&nbsp;For her film about the Rotterdam social service, QUID PRO QUO (2015) Raes won a Golden Calf, the most important film award in the Netherlands. More recent the co-production GANZ; HOW I LOST MY BEETLE had a successful theatrical release and has been broadcasted in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland.

Suzanne 

Close to Vermeer-Abbie Vandivere and Anna Krekeler.jpg

Dicht bij Vermeer

Close to Vermeer

5SoR Poster Web.jpg

Young&nbsp;independent filmmaker and&nbsp;reporter Lina&nbsp;goes underground to document the Syrian revolution, adopting a series of aliases to&nbsp;avoid detection from the violent state.&nbsp;In Damascus, she is Lina, one of the many of the silent passerbys, but in Homs, she is Maya the war reporter and in Aleppo, she is Lama.&nbsp; In her debut,&nbsp;5 SEASONS OF REVOLUTION,&nbsp;Lina uses&nbsp;video diaries of smuggled footage and memoir to share this personal story of&nbsp;her&nbsp;close group of friends – Susu, Rima, Malaz, and Bassel – as they are slowly pulled deeper into the&nbsp;struggle for freedom and autonomy against enemies known and unknown.&nbsp;&nbsp;One by one, they are detained and targeted by the regime and Lina ends up alone and isolated amidst the violence and chaos.&nbsp;&nbsp;She continues filming to find clarity.&nbsp; Months transform into years, and Lina – aka Maya aka Layla aka Lama – returns over and over again&nbsp;to the frontlines to witness the regime’s brutal crackdown and see her country morph into a staging ground of global proxy wars.&nbsp; When&nbsp;Lina is detained and held captive in Aleppo, she witnesses unspeakable suffering and torture, and barely escapes. Told over the course of a decade and against the backdrop of shifting&nbsp;historical forces,&nbsp;5 SEASONS OF REVOLUTION is Lina’s story; the tale of becoming brave.&nbsp;

Born in Damascus, Lina starts to report on the events around her but is compelled to become a war reporter and later, the unexpected narrator of her own destiny.

Born in Damascus, Lina is a documentary filmmaker, a journalist and a camerawoman, who's been documenting events in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey over the past ten years. She holds a master’s degree in Documentary Filmmaking from Essex University. Lina made short and medium-length documentaries, and her debut feature, 5 SEASONS OF REVOLUTION is to premiere at Sundance World Cinema Documentary Competition 2023.

Lina

5SoR_hires_Still 1_web copy.jpg

We're glad to welcome <a href="https://filmharbour.com/films/5-seasons-of-revolution">5 SEASONS OF REVOLUTION</a> by Lina as part of our line-up!&nbsp;In her debut,&nbsp;Lina uses&nbsp;video diaries of smuggled footage and memoir to share this personal story of&nbsp;her&nbsp;close group of friends in Syria – Susu, Rima, Malaz, and Bassel – as they are slowly pulled deeper into the&nbsp;struggle for freedom and autonomy against enemies known and unknown.&nbsp;&nbsp;One by one, they are detained and targeted by the regime and Lina ends up alone and isolated amidst the violence and chaos.&nbsp;&nbsp;She continues filming to find clarity.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Lina’s story immediately impressed us. It is an important story of how the warmth of friendship and the conviction of their beliefs can shield a generation of young artists and activists against great brutality and horrors. This is a story that will resonate internationally. With strong producers behind Lina and her film, this is a journey we want to be part of,” Liselot Verbrugge told Business Doc Europe.&nbsp;Read <a href="https://businessdoceurope.com/deckert-to-handle-international-on-5-seasons-of-revolution/">here</a> the full article by Business Doc Europe, on picking-up 5 SEASONS OF REVOLUTION and more of our latest acquisitions.&nbsp;

Interview with Business Doc Europe on 5 SEASONS OF REVOLUTION by Lina

We're glad to welcome 5 SEASONS OF REVOLUTION by Lina as part of our line-up!
“Lina’s story immediately impressed us. It is an important story of how the warmth of friendship and the conviction of their beliefs can shield a generation of young artists and activists against great brutality and horrors. This is a story that will resonate internationally. With strong producers behind Lina and her film, this is a journey we want to be part of,” Liselot Verbrugge told Business Doc Europe.

5 Seasons of Revolution

As a world sales company, Film Harbour distributes creative documentaries from around the globe for which we see a potential on the international market. 

The films in our catalog are very diverse in style and content, but they all have one thing in common: we are convinced of their high artistic quality and their strong relevance, and we want to introduce these outstanding documentaries to a wide international audience. 

Our main goal is to make the connection between a film and its viewers, both via the big and the small screen. 

Our films