011FILMS PRESENTS PRESS BOOK

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1 011FILMS PRESENTS PRESS BOOK

2 Corazones de Mujer Feature Film 35mm / Color Dolby Digital Lengh 85-1:1.85 Arabic/Italian with English subtitles Italy/Morocco 2008 PRODUCTION COMPANY 011films Via Camponogara Fossano - Italia Tel Fax production.011films@mac.com Contact in Berlin: Cel WORLD SALES 011films PRESS OFFICE Italy / International STUDIO MORABITO Tel.: Fax : info@mimmomorabito.it Contact in Berlin: Mimmo Morabito Rosa Ardia Vera Usai Cel.: ; Aziz Ahmeri as Shakira SCREENING SHEDULE Press screening & Industry Cubix 7 & 8 20:30 Première CinemaxX 7 20:00 Screening CineStar 3 22:45 Screening CineStar 3 17:45 European Film Market CinemaxX 2 18:50 Deutsche Presse Silversalt Pr Claudia Tomassini Cel.: claudia@silversaltpr.com Thessa Mooij Cel.: thessa@silversaltpr.com Press informations are available at: Ghizlane Waldi as Zina CORAZONES DE MUJER Page 2

3 THE 58 TH BERLINALE SPEAKS ITALIAN IN THE PANORAMA SECTION THE FILM CORAZONES DE MUJER BY K. KOSOOF (DAVIDE SORDELLA AND PABLO BENEDETTI) Once upon a time there was a tailor who made the best Arab clothing in the entire city: his name was Shakira (Aziz Ahmeri) and he was to make the wedding gown for a young woman who was soon to be married: Zina (Ghizlane Waldi). The problem was that Zina had already lost her virginity and this is forbidden in the Arab world. I n o r d e r t o r e t u r n t o kilometer zero, the two decide to drive an old Alfa Romeo sports car from Torino all the way to Morocco and this is the beginning of a voyage that will save her life. As opposed to what the film s title and the name of the d i r e c t o r m i g h t s u g g e s t, Corazones de Mujer is by two directors and producers from Italy, Davide Sordella and Pablo Benedetti. K. Kossof is their collective stage name and it means eclipse in Arabic. Corazones de Mujer is a true story about a transvestite tailor originally from Morocco and an Arab bride-to-be who lives in Torino and has to regain her lost virginity. The authors say, In view of the film s themes and context, in o r d e r t o g i v e t h e l e a d characters maximum freedom in telling their story, we decided to protect them with a more constructed narrative framework that seems to be a fictitious story. An actor can always be himself, even when he bares himself on the screen, because he can tell himself, This isn t me. I m acting a part. And this is just what happens in the daily fiction of the society that surrounds the protagonists of this story. Corazones de Mujer is a film a b o u t t h e m a s k s, t h e appearances, that cover up sexuality in the Arab world and beyond. After his preceding film, Fratelli d i S a n g u e, w h i c h w a s presented in Venice in 2006 and featured Fabrizio Gifuni and Barbara Bobulova in the cast, the young director Davide Sordella returns to the silver screen with a film he has made in collaboration with Pablo Benedetti, and which was produced by 011Films. Corazones de Mujer is un unusual road movie that came about after an encounter between K. Kosoof (Davide Sordella and Pablo Benedetti) and a transvestite tailor in a smoky bar late one night in Torino. The bizarre tale that the two directors listened to that night couldn t remain a secret. With a movie camera on their shoulders a bit like back in the days of Neorealism and free cinema they went in s e a r c h o f t h e t a i l o r s h o m e t o w n, i n a v o y a g e through Italy, Spain and M o r o c c o t h a t s o o n transformed itself into a voyage in search of themselves, in which each one, in a different way, put himself on the line. Sordella and Benedetti have chosen non-professional actors to discuss themes that are as controversial as they are up-to-date, like homosexuality, individual freedom and how virginity and marriage are viewed in the Arab world. During their voyage, they constructed the story with their a c t o r s, o p t i m i z i n g t h e mechanisms of fiction in the screenplay, which they wrote themselves. The story, that is so closely tied to modern times, is also narrated by an original soundtrack created by Enrico Sabena and soon to be released by Warner that gives a deeper look into the protagonists through a variety o f s t y l e s a n d e t h n i c c ro s s o v e r s, i n t e r t w i n i n g ancient musical languages with modern sounds as it underlines the universality of pain, something that unites every population on Earth. For more information: The third star of the film: the old Alfa Romeo Duetto, much more than just a traveling companion CORAZONES DE MUJER Page 3

4 HOW CORAZONES DE MUJER CAME ABOUT The first meeting was in Torino, in a Moroccan bar called l Haija, near Corso Giulio Cesare. You enter through a roll-down shutter, then you go down a set of stairs leading into the belly of the city, where you discover - beneath the skin, beneath the orderliness another world. Here, to the notes of live music that was being played among the narghilés, we met Shakira: traditional Moroccan clothes and a flashy blond wig. Intrigued by our foreign presence (we were the only Italians in the entire bar), he said to us, If you want, I ll tell you the story of my life. We listened, and still today we don t know how much of that story was the truth. But right away it struck us as an important story, one that deserved to be told. And to tell it we needed a female character from Torino s Moroccan community who had experienced a vicissitude similar to the one Shakira had told us about: Ghizlane Waldi. She, too, is a non-professional actor, but we were struck by her spontaneity, her willingness to bare her soul in front of the movie camera. It s strange, but A voyage means making choices. it turned out to be easier for them to be themselves in front of the camera than it is in real life. Maybe because it s just a film, and this conviction like a sort of secret pact let them say things that they would have had difficulty saying in a normal conversation or in public. And so we decided to retrace the voyage that Shakira had told us about. With a video camera in hand, we all left Torino together for Morocco in an old Alfa Romeo Duetto (like the one in the film The Graduate); no screenplay and a cast that only knew each other by sight. We didn t know where we d end up but we felt that it was the right way to fully experience this profoundly human voyage. And thus the story was born, bit by bit, kilometer by kilometer; we all put ourselves on the line as we tried to reduce the boundary between the person standing in front of the movie camera and the person behind it, until it was completely eliminated. The story we were expecting to find changed a lot during our crossing (like in every true voyage), but we saw Morocco and, above all, we saw ourselves - through other eyes. The film s themes are obviously very controversial and complex. We wanted to touch on them with the light tones of comedy, while bearing in mind the seriousness of the topics. We wanted the same light touch, and the same disenchantment, with which Shakira had won us over. Usually, we hear stories about women (and more in general, about people) from other cultures who experience a process of liberation in the West. But this time the exact opposite happened. A young woman who is totally integrated, born into a normal bourgeois family, who returns to her country of origin and rediscovers her own roots through other eyes (Shakira s), who discovers she is a different person and decides to throw off her mask and confront the truth. This is the true, fundamental theme: the freedom to be yourself, to say what you think, and to do what you say. A freedom that, obviously, is conditioned by the reality surrounding us, but that has its roots inside us. And, even though it is conditioned by the reality around us, this reality must start with us. As we write this article we are in Japan, and we were struck by a reflection on the condition of women that someone here told us: It doesn t matter what clothes you wear, nor what music you listen to or what you do during the day or night inside, deep down, every Japanese woman is still wearing a kimono. And this is why Corazones de Mujer isn t just a film about Arab culture, but more in general, it s a universal story that goes beyond the artificial and social barriers that we have constructed. Davide Sordella and Pablo Benedetti, late January 2008 CORAZONES DE MUJER Page 4

5 Comments by the actors. SHAKIRA: I remember when we decided to leave for Morocco. It was late summer and we were sitting on a bench in Torino. The next week we were already in an Alfa Romeo Duetto heading for Spain. We hardly knew each other, but I decided to take off on this adventure without hesitating, instinctively. Without really knowing where we d end up. And, to me, this is what the film is about: it talks about what s beneath the skin, deep down, that makes no differentiation between color, race, religion and, above all, sexual orientation. (Aziz Ahmeri, this is his debut film) ZINA: It isn t easy to be listened to, as women, and not just in our society. To be really listened to and not just out of politeness, gallantry or politics. To me, the movie camera is a sort of magic mirror in which I can be myself and say all those things that normally remain locked up inside women s gossip. I found the freedom to always say what I thought, even if some of the things I said contradicted Shakira (the other lead in the film), but always with the warmth and respect of two people who are facing a voyage together. I d like to find this same respect and freedom in the everyday world, beyond the movie camera. (Waldi Ghizlane, this is her debut film) CORAZONES DE MUJER Page 5

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11 THE DIRECTORS: KIFF KOSOOF / BIO-FILMOGRAPHY DAVIDE SORDELLA Studied in London at the London International Film School, directed by Mike Leigh. From 1996 to 2000 he worked in Latin America for various international agencies and organizations (Johns Hopkins University, Population Services International, USAID, GTZ, VIS), directing documentaries, commercials (approximately 30) and video clips about AIDS prevention. From 2000 to 2002 he directed numerous shorts in various countries (UK, Israel, Nepal, etc.) with an English production company. One of these short films, It s not me, it s not you, won the Kodak European Showcase Award in 2003 and was presented at various festivals throughout the world, including Cannes. His first feature film, Fratelli di Sangue, starring Fabrizio Gifuni and Barbara Bobulova, was presented at the Venice Film Festival in 2006 and was distributed in Italy in It was later bought by Medusa for DVD distribution and by SKY television. His second film, Corazones de Mujer was selected for the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival (Panorama) and will be distributed in cinemas in He is now working in Japan on his third film, Sleeping Doll, an international co-production. PABLO BENEDETTI MA in directing from the London International Film School (LFS) with Mike Leigh. In 2003 he began an intense experience with Lindsay Kemp. In 2004, during a long tour in Spain and Italy he made Gota Roja, a portrait of this extraordinary artist. This was the beginning of an in-depth study of documentaries and their narrative and technical potential. The next year, 2005, he directed Bluemist, about the competitive apnea world champion, Gianluca Genoni. The documentary was sold the the National Geographic channel. He then began collaborating with his former classmate, Davide Sordella, and with 011films, making the film Corazones de Mujer, a feature film about a Moroccan transvestite tailor and a young bride-to-be. The film was shot in Italy, Spain and Morocco and was selected for the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival, for the Panorama section. He is now preparing a project for another feature film. Davide Sordella a.k.a. Kiff Kosoof Pablo Bendetti a.k.a. Kiff Kosoof CORAZONES DE MUJER Page 11

12 - CREDITS CAST Aziz Ahmeri as Shakira Ghizlane Waldi as Zina Mohammed Wajid as Shakira s kid Medi & Hoja as themselves CREW A film by K. Kosoof A 011films production Authors & producers pablo benedetti & david sordella 011films producer: flavio sordella Administrator: allasia anna maria Associate producer: enrico sabena Account: confcooperative cuneo Location manager: waldi ahmed Cinematography: pablo benedetti Camera assistant: carlo cianti Animation: paolo bertola Scene photographer: carlo cianti Art direction: francesca fusari Dresses: ashylondon Wigs: audello Sound: maria da silva Sound editing: david sordella Voices dubbed at connection studio saluzzo Film mixed by enrico sabena at connection studio saluzzo Dolby editing at: augustus color - roma Editor: david sordella Colorist: pablo benedetti Post-production at 011films Laboratory: augustus color roma Lab coordination: alessandro pelliccia Music written, orchestrated by enrico sabena Recorded and mixed at connection studio saluzzo (italy) by enrico sabena with the assistance of davide balangero. Mastered at the connection studio and at logical box genova (italy) with alberto parodi Musicians: enrico sabena piano, keyboards, programming, harmonica. Mattia sismonda: viola and violin Marco castellano: double bass Davide borra: accordion Luca pirozzi: acoustic guitar Daniele cuccotti (hederix plenn) : acustic guitar Toni mancuso: trumpet and cornet Bruno mattio : clarinet Michele chiaravalloti: clarinet Gabriella brun : flute and ghironda Marco lovera: bagpipe Samuele ballari: alto sax Davide castagno: tenor sax Aldo barberis: trombone Giulio barale: electric piano Bartolo costamagna: electric guitar Davide balangero: electric bass Diego pernici: percussions Roberto testa: drums Special vocal interpretation by: Rosella pellerino Chiara rosso (hederix plenn) Majdoulin Moukarzel lina and jihad Apple tecnician: renzo tavanti All music produced by enrico sabena Marketing: raffaele cardarelli Transports: chieri fuoristrada Insurance: ras fossano Filmed in location at: Torino Italy Almeria Spain Fes Morocco Khouribga Morocco Merzouga Morocco Tamariz Morocco El Jadida Morocco Casablanca Morocco Davide Sordella & Pablo Benedetti a.k.a. Kiff Kosof CORAZONES DE MUJER Page 12

13 a film by K. Kosoof They ve begun their voyage They ve put themselves on the line... PRESS BOOK Page 13