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Ischia Film Festival, the cinema denouncing: focus on the planet in the “Location denied” section

Sixteen films competing in one of the most anticipated sections of the show (June 27-July 4): a journey that touches the Amazon, Syria, Myanmar, Egypt, Sierra Leone and Italy

When cinema denounces social injustices and environmental disasters, revealing itself as a precious “sentinel” on what does not working in the world. One of the most anticipated sections of the Ischia Film Festival, scheduled on the island in a hybrid version, partly in presence and partly online, from June 27 to July 4 2020 is called “Location denied”.

Sixteen films in the competition, passionate inquiries and intense reportages, united by a subtle red thread: the desire to tell on the big screen events in chiaroscuro largely unpublished, exploiting the communicative potential of cinema. Again, it will be an extraordinary tour around the world, able to touch a Kurdish village on its knees due to the consequences of an earthquake (“The absence”", by Fatemeh Zolfaghari) and to focus on one of the great themes of current events, the exploitation of the natural resources of the green lung of the earth, the Amazon, by the oil multinationals, which hosts Andrea Marinelli's “All eyes on the Amazon”. Of global warming and the future of the planet, not without an irresistibly satirical key, instead speaks “Icemeltland park”, by Liliana Colombo.

It is a journey into the tensions of Lebanon “Brussels-Beyrouth”, by Thibaut Wohlfahrt and Samir Youssef. “Compagni di viaggio”, by Sara De Martino, deals with the theme of immigration in a dreamlike and poetic key. It builds a metaphor for the intensification of social relations in Egypt “Henet ward”, by Morad Mostafa. Then there is the surreal story of Myanmar soldier children, trained from an early age, told by Chen-Wen Lo's “In this land we're briefly ghosts”. And again: a dramatic look at the inhuman conditions of prisons in Sierra Leone inspires:
“El infierno” by Raúl de la Fuente Calle. There is no shortage of films capable of bringing to light disturbing aspects on Italian territory, such as “Il muro bianco” by Andrea Brusa and Marco Scotuzzi, which investigates the presence of asbestos in Italian schools. Amir Osnalou’s “The old man and the singer” instead opens a painful gash on the war in Syria. Gianluca Zonta’s “Pizza Boy” is also very current, who - telling the story of Saba, a pizza delivery man in Bologna - reports the lack of rights and the exploitation of immigrants.

The drama of shootings in American schools is at the center of Fabrice Joubert’s “Safety”. Still immigration, in a country of the Ionian coast of Calabria, in the short film “Schiavonea” by Natalino Zangaro. It is a story of resistance, in a small Greek village, “A simple life”, by Myrto Papadogeorgou and Robert Harding Pittman. An elderly man who wanders the streets of Istanbul is the protagonist of Mehmet Tığlı's “Sycamore”. The documentary “When mom is gone” by Zeynep Gulru Kececiler is dedicated to an Afghan father, forced to raise his children alone between misery and poverty.
“The ‘Location denied’ section - explains the artistic director of the festival Michelangelo Messina - is one of the trademarks of the Ischia Film Festival, an almost unique competition category. In focusing attention on the works that enhance the territories in which they were shot, the festival does not forget the flip side: cinema that raises doubts and reflections on the contradictions and violations of human rights in our society”.

In competition – Location denied

The absence (Iran, 2019 - Italian premiere) by Fatemeh Zolfaghari
All eyes on the Amazon (Netherlands, 2019 – EUROPEAN PREMIERE) by Andrea Marinelli
Bruxelles-Beyrouth (Belgium - France, 2019 - Italian premiere) by Thibaut Wohlfahrt e Samir Youssef

Compagni di viaggio (Italy, 2019) by Sara De Martino
Henet ward (Egypt, 2020 - Italian premiere) by Morad Mostafa
Icemeltland park (Italy - UK, 2020 - world premiere) by Liliana Colombo
In this land we’re briefly ghosts (US, 2019 - Italian premiere) by Chen-Wen Lo
El infierno (Spain, 2019 - Italian premiere) by Raúl de la Fuente Calle
Il muro bianco (Italy, 2020 - - Italian premiere) by Andrea Brusa and Marco Scotuzzi
The old man and the singer (Iran, 2019 - Italian premiere) by Amir Osnalou

Pizza Boy (Italy, 2019) by Gianluca Zonta
Safety (US, 2019 - Italian premiere) by Fabrice Joubert
Schiavonea (Italy, 2020) by Natalino Zangaro
A simple life (Greece - UD - Germany, 2019) by Myrto Papadogeorgou and Robert Harding Pittman
Sycamore (Turkey, 2019) by Mehmet Tığlı
When mom is gone (Turkey, 2020 - world premiere) by Zeynep Gulru Kececiler