FILM

An audio-visual project, which will be filmed in four countries in Europe (Italy, France, Germany, Spain) and Africa (Senegal)

The documentary will be articulated around three main axes: the individual stories will be explored, their memories and the work of the language, both mother tongue and second language

LA LANGUE DES OISEAUX – IL FILM (Audio-visual Project)

Taking into account the resurgence of racism in European societies, which targets the immigrant as the new ‘barbarian’, i.e. the one who does not speak our language, does not have our skin colour, does not practice our religion or our culture, has led to the current situation of overt and brutal racism against the immigrant. The ‘barbarian’, not only because of his or her different way of using the language or sharing the hegemonic culture, but also because of the use of mechanisms that unleash harassment and fear, which lead us to generalise that every immigrant who does not belong to the ‘western community’ represents a threat to our societies, a public danger that it is urgent to eradicate. La Langue des Oiseaux – Il Film is an audio-visual project, which will be filmed in four countries in Europe (Italy, France, Germany, Spain) and Africa (Senegal). Each of the territories will be represented in the film. Topics related to the exodus, the present, the past, language, beliefs, dreams, fears and desires will be dealt with. The documentary will be articulated around three main axes: the individual stories will be explored, their memories and the work of the language, both mother tongue and second language. A fourth transversal axis: the camera will film in an observational way the space, the passing of the days, through images of everyday life, without the intervention of the participants, and will contrast this world with the other spaces presented. This axis will walk a line between the rural world of Senegal, a daily and nocturnal vision of the place, with suggestive images of nature, sound, silences and multiple murmurs of space, confronted with the urban world of the big cities of Europe; architecture, light, vegetation and sounds. This will allow us to discover the environment, the exterior, the landscape that makes each of the territories unique. A fifth transversal axis is sound, which will generate an independent audio file. The sound will be captured in the process of developing the film, with the maximum detail, so that it explains the reality of the space, beyond what the image can reach. It will experimentally investigate the different voices of the multiple languages (material generated by all participants). Language as a vehicle for the transmission and reconstruction of testimonies and oral stories, rescuing the migratory identity of the participants. The upshots of the film will be five different realities. The narration, told in first person by the protagonists, will show us a diversity of voices, stories and multiple and varied reflections, where the landscape, the physical space, will take on an aesthetic sense, as if it were just another character. La Langue des Oiseaux – Il Film is a creation designed to be seen on any screen and to be distributed in different digital formats. It will be distributed free of charge and given to cultural centres, educational institutions and public libraries. The aim is to reach as many people as possible, as well as all people and organisations related to the topic of immigration who generally serve as distribution agents. The film will be written by Sonia Antinori and directed by Lucia Rojas de Maldonado, a Chilean expert artist in documentary filmmaking.