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Graduation films 2019

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ABOY

2019 - 32' - Wolof (Available subtitles: German / Italian / English)

A ruinous return. Aboy returns to The Gambia empty handed after a life of misery on the streets of Europe. A failure that will have to be redeemed in the eyes of a now distant family and an indifferent friend. All he has left now is a small piece of land on which he hopes to build a house for the family. However, without work, every plan seems impossible and life in The Gambia reveals itself to be even harder than the one he lived in Europe. Aboy’s difficulty with his arid land leads him to seek out the advice of a friend: to reconsider his impossible dreams and to look back towards his past, a vicious circle.
He will discover that some choices have already been made for him.

  • Clara Delva
    • Director

    Clara Delva

    Clara Delva (Verona, 1992). She graduated in the field of Scenography and Costume at the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, in Italy. She then studied Directing at ZeLIG, documentary film school, where she directed the documentary Come se nulla fosse, which has been selected for several festivals in Italy. In 2018, she worked as assistant director for the documentary Las Hermanas de Rocinante by Alexandra Kaufmann.
  • Mark Modrić
    • Cinematographer

    Mark Modrić

    Mark Modrić (Zagreb, 1995). He was an active member of KinoKlub Zagreb and worked on various film and photography festivals in Zagreb. In the year 2015, he directed and filmed his first documentary film Communicatio which won various prizes at festivals in Croatia. In the year 2016, he started his studies called “Camera and Light" at the ZeLIG, school for documentary filmmaking. He worked as a cameraman on the documentary La Ribalta in 2017.

  • Iain Thomas Beairsto
    • Editor

    Iain Thomas Beairsto

    Iain Thomas Beairsto (Bridgewater, Canada, 1995). He studied New Technologies at the Academy of fine arts in Venice. He later worked as a translator and an interpreter, working on various cross-cultural projects including the film Limbo by Crosscurrent Pictures. He then went on to study editing at the Zelig documentary film school, he worked as editor on the film Franziskanerkloster and as the sound technician on other.

Directors Note

Born from a personal experience, Aboy is inspired by a story which is shared by many Gambians who are locked in the same limbo as our protagonist. Most of whom have decided to live a life of misery on the streets of Europe instead of coming home empty handed. Conscious of this complex reality, incomprehensible in its entirety, the film adopts a close and intimate point of view with the intent of giving the audience a greater sense of empathy for the protagonist. A view that amplifies the expressions of the characters and that brings us into the mondain, something that every one of us can relate to. In this way Aboy’s condition becomes understandable and universal: the hope for a better future, wherever it may be found.

Technical data

Country of production: Italy
Shooting Format(s): HD 1080@25p
Original Master Format: HD 1080@25p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Screening Format: DCP, Apple ProRes or any on request
Audio Format: Stereo
Running time: 32'
Subtitles available: German / Italian / English

FULL CAST

Director: Clara Delva
Cinematographer: Mark Modrić
Editor: Iain Thomas Beairsto
Soundrecordist: Patrick Bruttomesso

MAKE YOUR PASSION
A PROFESSION

ZeLIG is located in Bolzano, Italy, a multilingual city where different cultures live together. The school is a place of exchange for students, teachers and film professionals from all over the world.
At ZeLIG the spoken languages are German, Italian and English. This creative approach to linguistic variety opens the gates to the international markets and to future opportunities.