Assane deve lasciare il Senegal. Ha bisogno di lavoro ed è costretto a lasciare gli studi all'università. In Italia ha degli amici. Decide di partire. Un naufragio, l'arrivo a Lampedusa, inizia così il suo viaggio clandestino. Prima il sud, dove viene subito coinvolto in lavori in nero illegali. Ma non è quello che cerca Assane. Tenta allora di provare a Firenze dove vive sua cugina, Salimata. Lei ha un lavoro regolare, un fidanzato italiano, ma ha abbandonato le sue tradizioni, ha dimenticato la sua religione. E Assane non riesce a starle vicino.
Continua così il suo viaggio e arriva a Torino. Ancora sfruttamento, ancora lavori umili. Ma poi riesce a ottenere un permesso di soggiorno, a trovare un lavoro in fabbrica, ad imparare la lingua, a farsi degli amici italiani, in particolare Caterina, una insegnate d'italiano. Vittima di una banda di ragazzi razzisti, Assane è profondamente colpito dall'impossibilità di integrarsi, se non se non rinunciando alla propria cultura e alla propria dignità di persona.
Assane decide allora di tornare in Senegal per ritrovare la famiglia e confrontarsi con un suo anziano maestro. Forse lui saprà spiegare ad Assane dove sta il luogo dove andare.

titolo originale: LETTERE DAL SAHARA
regia: Vittorio de Seta
cast: Djbril Kebe, Paola Ajmone Rondo, Stefano Saccotelli, Madawass Kebe, Fifi Cisse, Thierno Ndiaye, Luca Barbeni
sceneggiatura: Vittorio de Seta
fotografia: Antonio Grambone
montaggio: Marzia Mete
scenografia: Fiorella Cicolini
costumi: Fabio Angelotti
musica: Fabio Tronco
produttore: Donatella Palermo
produzione: A.S.P., Metafilm, con il contributo del MiBAC
distributore: ISTITUTO LUCE
vendite estere: ISTITUTO LUCE
paese: Italia
anno: 2006
durata: 123'
formato: 35mm - colore
uscito in sala: 01/09/2006

Attori
Djbril Kébé (Assane)
Marco Baliani
Claudia Muzzi
Paola Ajmone Rondo





After the death of her father, Assane, a young Moslem Senegalese interrupts his studies to emigrate to Italy. He is shipwrecked in Lampeduza and begins a journey in which, with much difficulty, he crosses Italy from south to north. He wants to get as far as Villa Literno, near Naples, where his cousin Makhtar guarantees he has a job waiting for him. But the job is unstable and fraught with danger. He finds his way to Florence to see Salimata, another cousin, whose French mother is a model. She wants to help him to find a job and regulate his situation in the country. But he cannot accept because the man she lives with is against his religious principles. In Turin, where he knows nobody, Assane leads a clandestine existence and takes heart through his faith and by writing letters to a former professor.


"We discovered the meaning of the film as we were making it.

Faced with the unstoppable phenomenon of immigration, there are two possible choices: deny everything and divide people, or else opt for communication and comparison. The latter is obligatory, or else we're done for. We will be saved by foreigners.

Eight years ago, when I wrote the first screenplay, the clandestine boats were already arriving in Lampedusa. Certainly, it's a lot of responsibility, because we need to tell the truth. Many films and television programs move along a virtual plane, conforming us to those standards. Sixty percent of the film is the Senegalese language because our characters speak amongst themselves.

I first wrote a planned-out screenplay and then adapted it to reality, working off of the actors and settings. I'm an evolutionist, not a creationist, the idea a filmmaker has in his head is always a work in progress. I worked with debut actors and Senegalese actors, we often didn't understand each other, but in the end I thought it was the right approach, that way they had to participate in constructing the story. I don't believe in the director-creator".
Vittorio De Seta


Italy - French - Italian/Wolof - 2006 - 100 min - Dir: Vittorio De Seta -

director
Vittorio De Seta

screenplay
Vittorio De Seta

cinematographer
Antonio Grambone

edition
Marzia Mete

music
Mario Tronco

cast
Djibril Kébé, Paola Ajmone Rondo, Stefano Saccotelli, Madawass Kébé, Fifi Cissé

producer
Donatella Palermo

Length : 123 min (Italia), 135 min (Brazil).

(Produced by A.S.P. and Metafilm, with a contribution from MiBAC, Lettere dal Sahara will be distributed theatrically in Italy on September 1 by Istituto Luce.


FESTIVALS / PRIX / AWARDS / TÉLÉVISIONS

LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA 2006: Fuori Concorso - Evento Speciale - Mostra de Venise 2006 - 63ème édition
> Venice Award of the City of Rome (Best Film)

FESTIVAL INTERNAZIONALE DEL CINEMA DI ISTANBUL 2007: Challenging the Years

FESTIVAL INTERNAZIONALE DI MAR DEL PLATA 2007
> Sélection Italia en Focus

CAPE TOWN WORLD CINEMA FESTIVAL 2006, Afrique du Sud
> Sélection An Other World

SÃO PAULO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2006
> Prêmio Humanidade a Vittorio De Seta