|

Film Info

Germany, France 2022 | 105 min. Director: Philip Scheffner
There is currently no offer available

World Sales

Square Eyes Film
Habichergasse 39/3
1160 Wien 16 https://squareeyesfilm.com

Production Company

pong film GmbH
Skalitzer Str. 62
10997 Berlin Phone +49 30 61076098 http://www.pong-berlin.de

Co-Production Company

Blinker Filmproduktion GmbH
Venloer Str. 241-245
50823 Köln

Categories

Documentary Docudrama Hybrid

EUROPE

Synopsis

A bus stop, a town square, a few blocks of houses in the suburb of a small French town, in Chatellerault. Zohra Hamadi, an Algerian citizen, can stand upright thanks to several metal rods, and now seems free of her debilitating scoliosis – the very reason for her immigration to France. By a twist of fate, this same recovery leads to her residence permit being revoked by the French State: she must consequently disappear, become invisible and inaudible. Choosing to make what he describes as State-coerced fiction, Philip Scheffner (to whom an Atelier was dedicated in 2018) abandons the documentary project he had begun and invents a scenario and a form to convey the violence and absurdity of this situation: Rhim Ibrir – whose story this is, and who had already taken part in one of the filmmaker’s previous films, Havarie – plays the main role, drawing from her own traumas. Via a simple and ingenious device that consists in particular of isolating the protagonist in the frame, the German filmmaker delivers a powerful political film. [VdR, Émilie Bujès]

with: Rhim Ibrir, Thierry Cantin, Didier Cuillierier, Khadra Bekkouche, Nouria Lakhrissi, Sadya Bekkouche, Hassane Ziani, Zoulikha Ibrir

Cast & Crew

Festivals/awards

2022
Special Mention – FriedensFilmPreis – 72 Berlinale FORUM
Special Mention – Visions du Réel, Burning Lights Competition
Crossing Europe Film Festival, Austria, 
Panorama
Play-Doc IFF, Spain – 
International Competition
doclisboa
35 IDFA
39 Kassel Dokfest

Director's comment

...

Did anything change in the collaboration with Rhim when the film became fiction?

PHILIP SCHEFFNER: I believe that the preoccupation with fiction has above all led to a great openness. Positions and relationships could be playfully renegotiated.
The discussion of the script, the intensive rehearsal work and ultimately the shooting itself have repeatedly opened up other perspectives on both the personal and the political situation – for me, for the team and of course for Rhim.
Rhim has appropriated this space of fiction, conquered it. She has filled it with new facets of herself. Rhim became Zohra and both influenced and changed each other – the transitions between film and reality blurred.
Rhim herself describes this very clearly: "The film doesn't stop – even when she (Zohra) leaves the film, she still lives what she played before."

World Sales

Square Eyes Film
Habichergasse 39/3
1160 Wien 16 https://squareeyesfilm.com

Production Company

pong film GmbH
Skalitzer Str. 62
10997 Berlin Phone +49 30 61076098 http://www.pong-berlin.de

Co-Production Company

Blinker Filmproduktion GmbH
Venloer Str. 241-245
50823 Köln

Cast & Crew

Philip Scheffner
 Caroline Kirberg
 Merle Kröger, Philip Scheffner
 Volker Sattel
 Philip Scheffner
 Tristan Pontécaille
 Simon Bastian

Categories

Documentary Docudrama Hybrid
Enter Onepager
1

slide_title_1

slide_description_1

alt_text_onepager_description_1
slide_headline_2
2

slide_title_2

slide_description_2

alt_text_onepager_description_2
slide_headline_3
3

slide_title_3

slide_description_3

alt_text_onepager_description_3
slide_headline_4
4

slide_title_4

slide_description_4

alt_text_onepager_description_4
Create / edit OnePager