My cat fell from the 8th floor and was left paralyzed in the hind legs. In search of a solution, I met a French association of paralyzed people who had been working for a long time on spinal cord regeneration. This took me and my cat to China for a clinical trial. When the spinal cord is injured, it produces necrosis around the wound. A kind of dam, a scar. Once this necrosis has formed,nothing can circulate through it. The metaphor takes me back to childhood, to a man who voluntarily cut himself off from life. My father, who suffers from profound melancholia, has always tried to reconnect his defective synapses to existence. So the magic potion patented by the Association, this “activated fat”, capable of regenerating connections, becomes much more than a scientific discovery for me. If I can “fix” my cat, maybe I can “fix” my dad too. With this unlikely premise, I’m off to China to film the impossible.
SCREENINGS & AWARDS
World Premiere: Les Etats généraux du Film Documentaire – Lussas – Expériences du regard 2023
2023 Torino Film Festival – Italian Cometition 2023
2024 Sguardi Altrove Film Festival
PRESS
Reviews: Il Fatto Quotidiano (IT), Variety – Exclusive Announcement and Trailer Premiere
DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY
Alessandra Celesia
Alessandra Celesia is an Italian director who lives between Paris and Belfast. After studying modern literature and theater, she directed in 2006 the documentary LUNTANO, her first collaboration with Michel David (Zeugma Films). In 2011, she directed THE BOOKSELLER OF BELFAST, co-produced by Arte. In 2013, ANATOMIA DEL MIRACOLO premiered at Cinéma du Réel. ANATOMIA DEL MIRACOLO received an “Étoile de la Scam” in 2017. She is currently in post-production on her latest film THE FLATS with support from Eurimages, Région Sud, CNC FAI, Screen Ireland, CCA de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, MEDIA, BFI Doc Society, Northern Ireland Screen, RTBF and Scam.
Filmography (selection)
Anatomia del miracolo for ARTE France, Zeugma films (90 mins), 2017
Mirage à l’italienne, Zeugma films (90 mins), 2013
The Bookseller of Belfast, Zeugma films (54 mins), 2011
Luntano for ARTE France, for Zeugma films (52 mins), 2006
CREDITS
Writer & Director Alessandra Celesia
Director of Photography François Chambe
Sound Engineer Marilou Cuffini-Fabre
Editor Nicolas Milteau
Postproduction coordinator Nora Bertone
Executive producer Luca Bich – L’Eubage
Production manager Jérôme Nunes
Producers Jean-Laurent Csinidis, Dirk Manthey
In coproduction with ZDF in collaboration with ARTE – La Lucarne
WITH THE SUPPORT OF
Eurimages, Région Sud (dev. & prod.), CNC – Fonds d’aide à l’innovation, Film Commission Vallée d’Aoste, Arte/ZDF, MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, Ciclic (dev.), PROCIREP – Société des producteurs, ANGOA
PRODUCER’S BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY
Jean-Laurent Csinidis
Jean-Laurent Csinidis was born in 1981 in Marseille (France). In 2010, he created Films de Force Majeure, a production company focused on auteur films and international collaborations. Over the course of his projects, he has developed a particular taste for documentary cinema – which regularly brings him back to the shores of fiction. Since then, he has produced or co-produced 30 films, most of which have been shown in Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Venice, as well as at the IDFA, Visions du Réel, Rotterdam, Cinéma du Réel, Annecy… Among them, several feature films that have been distributed in France and internationally.
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Films de Force Majeure develops, produces and co-produces films by fostering singular and committed authorial visions, from all over the world, and capable of reaching a long-term and diverse audience. Passionate about cinema in all its shapes and forms, we are driven by human and artistic encounters that reveal a true convergence of values, beyond borders and cultural differences. Our ultimate desire: that the films we accompany transform those who see them through a unique cinematic experience each time.
Films de Force Majeure
14 rue Montgrand, 13006 Marseille, France
+33 (0)4 84 18 30 33
contact@films-de-force-majeure.com
http://www.films-de-force-majeure.com
Dirk Manthey Film is founded in 2000 in Hamburg. Since then DMF has produced a large number of films, both feature films and documentaries. The portfolio of our films includes both films that allow us to tell their stories through image and sound/music as well as films that specifically address social grievances and thus make them visible and tangible. Since its foundation DMF have been focused on international co-productions. In Europe as well as in Latin America. Over the years, we‘ve built up good networks in many of the countries which with we produce and have acquired an understanding of many cultural and also film-industry specific idiosyncrasies. Apart from the activities as a production company „Dirk Manthey Film / Dirk Manthey“ has taken charge of line producing, executive producing and post production supervising for high budget fiction and docu-fiction films in the last years.
Dirk Manthey Film
Germany
mail@dirkmanthey.de
+49 40 76990 807
https://www.dirkmantheyfilm.de
