67 minutes | Italy, UK, Germany | 2022
SYNOPSIS:
Every year thousands of people try to reach Europe by land, journeying on foot across the mountains, rivers and fields of the Balkan route connecting Asia to Europe. Those with some money set aside mostly rely on human smugglers to cross from one country to the next. Everyone else faces the "game": attempting repeatedly to cross borders by walking in the forests, hiding under truck trailers or freight trains to avoid being arrested by border police, and escape violence and the subsequent push back that would take them back to square one.
'Go, friend, go' spans across the ports of Patras in Greece, the forests by the border town of Šid in Serbia, the abandoned factories in the Bosnian Una Sana canton, and the arrival point in Trieste's public squares, all peripheral hotspots of migrant lives in transit. In bringing together different stories employing several narrative techniques (footage, animation and found footage), the film is an experiential journey, aiming to draw the viewer to feel the contrasting experience of resilience and resourceful hope that can be found even in the context of destitution and violence produced by the European border system.
Director Bio:
Director: Gabriele Licchelli, Francesco Lorusso, Andrea Settembrini
Gabriele Licchelli (1993), Francesco Lorusso (1993), Andrea Settembrini (1991) comes from a small village in the extreme South-East of Italy. Together they directed and produced "Anche gli uomini hanno fame" (2019), co-produced by Fondazione AAMOD and Broga Doite Film in collaboration with Istituto Luce-Cinecittà, premiered at IDFA 2019 and selected at several national and international film festivals (MakeDox, MedFilm Festival, Fest - New Directors New Films, Lucca Film Festival & Europa Cinema, Festival del Cinema Europeo Lecce). They have prior experience working on the topic of migration with "Arca Hotel" (2017), selected at the 58. Festival dei Popoli and distributed on Guide Doc in 2019. They worked also on the mid-length documentary "Il Fiore in Bocca" (2021) directed by Valeria Civardi and Andrea Settembrini, presented in development at "Doc at Work Campus" at the 59. Festival dei Popoli, premiered at 19. Ischia Film Festival and selected at CinemAmbiente Torino.