The gripping story of an African’s journey to Europe and a moving film about refugees on the Polish border, which angered the country’s government, ignited the race for awards at the Venice Film Festival. , is the latest from Italian director Matteo Garrone, known for the mafia drama “Gomorra”.The epic drama follows two naive 16-year-olds who leave Senegal for Europe, only to be robbed, tortured and enslaved along the way and , finally, aboard a dangerously fragile boat bound for Italy. Garrone told journalists he wanted to break European complacency towards migrants arriving by sea. sometimes not”, he said. director said he wanted to “put the camera on the other side – in Africa, pointed at Europe – to tell their journey and live it with them”. His film arrived in Venice the day after another powerful drama about migrants, “Green Border”, which focuses on refugees trapped between the borders of Belarus and Poland in 2021. Critics were impressed, with The Guardian newspaper calling it a “brutal, angry and draining drama, in grim black and white”. But the film triggered an angry response from his country’s justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, who compared it to Nazi propaganda because it was critical of Poland. Agnieszka Holland in the center” data-title=”Venice Film Festival: strong films about migrants by Matteo Garrone and Agnieszka Holland confuse predictions for the awards – SAPO Mag”> Agnieszka Holland in the center Its Polish director, Agnieszka Holland, 74, told journalists in Venice: “Europe is in the process of losing its convictions”. “We have to face the real challenge. Europe, the continent of freedom, democracy, human rights, will disappear … It will turn into a kind of fortress where people who want to reach our continent will be killed by us, by Europeans, “she said.
profound injustice
With the festival ending on Saturday, the two films have complicated the Golden Lion race. Early contenders for the top prize included glittering Hollywood films such as “Poor Creatures,” starring Emma Stone as a sexually ravenous reanimated corpse, and “Maestro “, in which Bradley Cooper transforms into legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. But films about migrants have a political impact that could sway the jury, led by Damien Chazelle (“La La Land”), which includes Jane Campion and winner last year’s Golden Lion, Laura Poitras. Garrone highlighted that there are many types of migration driven by war and despair, but his film focuses on “young people ready to risk their lives for a better future”. highlights a profound injustice,” he said. “They don’t understand why young people [da Europa] they can come to their country on vacation, but if they want to go to the West, they often face mortal danger”, he pointed out.