Description of the movie:


Paradise - Three Journeys in This World

The central figure in this film is 23-year-old Bakary from Mali, who left his family behind to build a better life in Europe. He found a job in a tomato nursery in Spain, but does not have a residence permit and therefore no right to housing. Along with some 20 partners in misfortune, he sleeps on the street.

The film consists of three parts; in the first, we meet Bakary in Spain. The second part is set in Rabat, Morocco, where many Africans dream of a trip to the European continent. Many try to cross the water, but most are caught by the police and get sent back.

For example, the police left Adam behind in the Sahara Desert with 55 other people. He walked back to civilisation in 25 days, a trip that many of his companions did not survive. The final episode is set in the village where Bakary was born and where his family resides, poorly but peacefully.

These are shocking stories about the imagined paradise that many Africans believe Europe to be, stories that stand in sharp contrast to the great visual beauty of the film. 







Director: Elina Hirvonen
Editor: Annukka Lilja
Original Finnish title:
Paratiisi- kolme matkaa tässä maailmassa.
Duration: 51 minutes







Awards:

-Winner of Nordic Glory Film Festival
("Arktisen Upeeta") in Jyväskylä, Finland.


-Winner of: IDFA (International Documentary
Film Festival Amsterdam) Student Award

-Special Prize: Tampere Film Festival 2008


-Diploma of Merit for Editing:
Tampere Film Festival 2008.

- 1st Prize, Medium length films: "Ecofilms",
Rodos International Films & Visual Arts
Festival 2008


Synopsis from  the International Documentary
Film  Festival Amsterdam,  idfa website



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