The Valley

Nuno Escudeiro

Cinema-Dokumentary

High up in the French Alps, on the border between Italy and France, refugees risk their lives crossing dangerous mountain routes. Witnessing the increasing influx of refugees, local communities in the Roya and Durance Valleys start providing them with shelter, food and legal counselling.

Since transporting and hosting undocumented migrants is a criminal offence, they find themselves on the wrong side of the law, sometimes even facing jail time for their acts of civil disobedience. The Valley documents the battle between the population and the authorities, who themselves blatantly violate human rights when refusing to process asylum seekers and minors' requests. This gripping chronicle rightfully reclaims the ethical duty of solidarity, criminalized by a perverted system.

Awards

"Emerging International Filmmaker" award - Hot Docs

BNL Gruppo BNP Paribas Award

Special mention - the official jury at Visioni dal Mondo

"The doc focuses not on the horrors people escaped or the perils of their travels - those narratives have been covered elsewhere - but on the individual actions that seek to remedy the solution."

- Pat Mullen, 27/04/19 - Hot Docs, für POV magazine

Credits

Directed by Nuno Escudeiro

Cinematography: Nikolaus von Schlebrügge
Editing: Beatrice Segolini
Sound and original music: David Argi
Written by: Nuno Escudeiro and Moritz Bonatti

Produced by: Andreas Pichler, Luc Martin-Gousset, Valerio B. Moser

Coproduction: Miramonte Film and Point du Jour
with Public Sénat, Arte G.E.I.E

Supported by: IDM Südtirol-Alto Adige, Région Sud Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur, Autonome Provinz Bozen - Deutsche Kultur, Angoa-Procirep, CNC

Distribution: Point du Jour International

2019 76 Min.

Festivals:

World Premiere at Hot Docs International Spectrum competition - Toronto, Canada - 2019

Official selection Festival d'Avignon - Avignon, France - 2019

Official Italian competition Visioni dal Mondo - Milan, Italy - 2019

Official selection Lunenburg Film Festival - Lunenburg, Canada - 2019

Checkpoints Competition Bergen Film Festival - Bergen, Norway - 2019

Official selection BFI London Film Festival - London, UK - 2019

Official selection UNAFF - San Francisco, USA - 2019

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