Palm Springs – January 15, 2012— Today, Palm Springs International Film Festival named Terraferma as the winner of Cinema Without Borders’ Bridging the Borders Award. Le Havre, from Finland, took home runner-up honors.
Emanuele Crialese, director of the Terraferma , the winner of the 2012 Cinema Without Borders’ Bridging the Borders Award, receives an HP EliteBook 8560w Mobile Workstation with a built-in HP DreamColor display, valued at approximately $4000. The prize was provided by HP.
This year’s nominees for the award were Almania (Germany), Le Havre (Finland), Monsieur Lazhar (Canada), Morgen (Romania ), and Terraferma (Italy).
The award luncheon for the 2012 Palm Springs International Film Festival was held at Spencer’s Restaurant in Palm Springs, California. Director of the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles, Mr. Alberto Di Mauro, accepted the award on behalf of Director Emanuele Crialese from Bijan Tehrani, Editor-in-Chief of Cinema Without Borders.
“At Cinema without Borders, we are proud to be a part of the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s celebration of world cinema by giving our Bridging the Borders Award to a film that helps bring the people of our world closer together. The winner of the 2012 Bridging the Borders Award is Terraferma, a brilliant film that deals with the sophisticated issue of illegal immigration and the thousands of people that encounter the dilemma daily. Emanuele Crialese, director Terraferma, shows us how people from different cultures and nationalities come together and try to build a bridge over their sorrows by uniting.” said Bijan Tehrani, Editor In Chief of Cinema Without Borders.
Darryl Macdonald, Director of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, shared praise for the impactful film. “A prize winner at Venice as well as here in Palm Springs, Emanuele Crialese’s TERRAFERMA movingly portrays the human factors underlying the current hot-button issues of ‘illega
l’ immigration and assimilation so prevalent in contemporary societies around the world. It’s a subject hugely worthy of filmic exploration, and fitting that this award, intended to promote exactly such introspection on the part of viewers, should honor Crialese and his work.”
“HP understands the important role technology plays in helping artists bring their visions to life and we’re proud to support the arts through programs like Bridging the Borders,” said Ray Gilmartin, digital media and entertainment segment manager, Worldwide Marketing, Commercial Solutions Business Unit, HP. “As the leading technology provider for the digital entertainment industry, HP is committed to bridging the world’s cultural gaps through art and entertainment.”
Emanuele Crialese, director of Terraferma in an email to Bijan Tehrani, Editor In Chief of Cinema Without Borders wrote: “Only yestarday I found out about the CINEMA WITHOUT BORDERS’ prize and I can’t start to tell you how honored I am and how sorry I wasn’t able to be among you that night. But ultimately is the work that count and I admire you for your courage to give some light to a story too often hidden by society.
It is with my wamest regards that I thank you and all the jury for the recognition you are giving to my TERRAFERMA.”
Terraferma
Italy—Directed by: Emanuele Crialese
On a tiny, remote Sicilian island, a local woman and an immigrant find themselves at odds with each other and yet are united by the same dream: a better future for their children, their very own Terraferma.
Terraferma is not only a navigator’s point of arrival; it is also an island with deeply rooted traditions which appear to have stopped in time. And it is the issue of time standing still that is creating upheaval in the Pucillo family.
Ernesto is 70 years old; he hates change and doesn’t want his fishing boat to be scrapped.
His grandson Filippo, whose father was lost at sea, is 20 years old and juggles his existence between his grandfather Ernesto’s timeless subsistence and his uncle Nino’s way of life, in which catching fish has been replaced by catering to tourists.
His young, widowed mother, Giulietta, believes that the island’s unchanging lifestyle has turned them all into outsiders and that neither she nor Filippo stand a chance of forging a different future.
The hope of doing something different with their lives means finding the courage to leave. One day the sea carries other voyagers into their lives: among them Sara and her son, who have escaped violent oppression in North Africa.
Ernesto, firmly entrenched in the traditional laws of the sea, is very welcoming to all who have traveled over water. However, man’s laws seem to have changed and favour an entirely different approach to dealing with illegal immigrants. This dilemma creates a great deal of turmoil in the Pucillo family, especially between Giulietta and Sara, and the Pucillo’s have no choice but to reexamine their way of life.