On the Bride’s Side / Gabriele Del Grande, Antonio Augugliaro, Khaled Soliman Al Nassiry / Italy / 2014
89 min
In this unorthodox road movie, a Palestinian poet and an Italian journalist decide to transport five Syrian and Palestinian refugees to Sweden, even though it could lead to a charge of human trafficking. They are driven by a desire to show that there is another, more helpful Europe that sympathises with refugees’ motives and dreams.
The enterprise begins cheerfully, with the group staging a wedding in order to trick border guards on the way from Milan to Malmö. On the mountain route between Italy and France, the bride ties her white dress around her hips, and the group progresses northwards with the help of various friends, the handheld camera work capturing the emotions. Along the way, memories are reawakened of a perilous journey to Lampedusa, of the war at home and of friends who got killed.
The makers claim that their film shows nothing more than “something that really took place on the road from Milan to Stockholm from the 14th to the 18th of November, 2013.” But the viewer, having gradually worked out that there’s more to it, sympathises with this charitable expansion of Fortress Europe’s borders, and hopes for a better future for the young rapper who’s already been through so much.
SPECIAL GUEST
Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries will show his A Paper Monument for the Paperless, as seen around Amsterdam and recently as part of WOW Open at KunstRAI 2017. Started in 2013, the project has not left the artist and he is increasingly determined to make it grow. At the same time, this means stepping out of the shadows as the initiator and creator.
ABOUT WOW.DOC
In this series of documentary showings, curated by filmmaker and Artist in Residence Kristina Daurova, we look at stories of extraordinary people. Hosted by WOW Amsterdam, the creative hotspot that houses fifty characters from the Amsterdam art academies.
Go to Facebook and let us know you’re coming. Free entry, cash bar. Takes place in WOW’s Green Gallery. Grab a bite to eat in our restaurant before the screening.
We thank ZaLab for making the film available.
