On Sunday, 22 November, the last Ljubljana Film Festival day, the audience had the privilege of meeting Alassane Sy,thelead actor in Mediterranea, who played the role of the disadvantaged migrant from Burkina Faso experiencing unintentional as well as legal discrimination in Italy. The film by young Italian director Jonas Carpignano is one of the three finalists (besides Mustang by Deniz Gamze Ergüven and The Lesson by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov) competing for the za Lux Award, an annual prize awarded by the European Parliament with the aim of boosting circulation of European films across European cinemas and encouraging dialogue and discussion on important social issues in all European countries.

Sy believes that the film, that took two years in the making, seems even more terrifying and heart-rending in the light of the currently rampant institutionalised racism, the extent of which was unimaginable some months ago in Europe. “We are all one big family, and nobody should have the right to build walls between us,” he added and went on to condemn the politicians who sever bonds between people under the guise of patriotism. The viewers commented that the film occasionally gave the impression of being a documentary. Sy explained that this was no coincidence as many real-life migrants appear in the movie whose motives for leaving their homeland range from the hope of living the European dream to fleeing the countries ravaged by wars. 

Written by Andraž Jež

Photo Iztok Dimc
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