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