Screenings
August 27 20:30
DEBATOUN GUESTHOUSE
Casablanca
France/Italy, 2023, 63′
in Italian w/Arm.Eng. subtitles
Director and Scriptwriter: Adriano Valerio
Producers: Lionel Massol, Giulia Achilli, Marco Alessi, Pauline Seigland
Cinematographers: Diego Romero Suarez-Ilanos, Jonathan Ricquebourg
Editors: Andrea Maguolo, Alice Roffinengo
Composer and Sound: Enrico Ascoli
Featuring: Fouad Miftah, Daniela Brandi
Production Companies: Films Grand Huit, Dugong Films
Fouad, son of the Imam of a popular neighborhood in Casablanca, has been clandestine in Italy for ten years, awaiting medical treatment. Daniela comes from an upper-middle-class family of esotericists from Puglia. A former drug addict, she lives in great loneliness. They met by chance in Umbria, and they both claim without hesitation that the other saved their life. Their meeting is the beginning of a love that helps them heal to the slow rhythm of seasons and daily rituals, a suspended place that dances in time. Yet, over the years, Fouad gets tired of waiting for his Visa, exhausted by an environment he feels he will never belong to. Is he going to return to Casablanca, even if that means never going back to Italy?
Adriano Valerio
Adriano Valerio’s short 37°4S received a Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival (2013) and won the David di Donatello (2014) award. His first feature film Banat – The Journey, was presented at the International Critics’ Week – Venice (2015) and was nominated at the Golden Globes for Best First Film, eventually being selected for more than 70 international festivals and receiving various awards. His short Mon amour mon ami was presented at Orizzonti (Venice, 2017) and at TIFF. His documentary Les aigles de Carthage was the opening short film at International Critics’ Week (Venice, 2020). His short The Nightwalk has been awarded with the Prix Canal+ at Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival (2021) and selected for the César Awards 2022. His latest feature documentary Casablanca (2023) was presented at the Venice Days section of the Venice International Film Festival.
Filmography
37°4S (2013), Agosto (2016), Banat – The Journey (2016), Mon amour mon ami (2017), Les aigles de Carthage (2020), The Nightwalk (2021), Calcutta, 8:40am (2022), Casablanca (2023).