La Terramadre


2h 2008

Brief Synopsis

Gaetano lives in Palma with his aunt. His mother died of cancer a few years ago, and his father works in Germany, where he plans to open a bar. He wants Gaetano to join him, in part to encourage him to leave a country that to him represents only misery and death. But Gaetano doesn't want to lea

Film Details

Also Known As
Mother Land, Motherland, Terramadre
Genre
Drama
Foreign
Release Date
2008
Production Company
Comune Di Palma Di Montechiaro

Technical Specs

Duration
2h

Synopsis

Gaetano lives in Palma with his aunt. His mother died of cancer a few years ago, and his father works in Germany, where he plans to open a bar. He wants Gaetano to join him, in part to encourage him to leave a country that to him represents only misery and death. But Gaetano doesn't want to leave; a strong, somehow inexplicable link makes him cling to the land where his mother is buried. He frequently goes to the cemetery to speak to her, standing in front of her tomb. Ali is a clandestine migrant. He arrived in Palma from the sea after a shipwreck. He is sheltered by a peasant who finds him half dead in the middle of a road. The peasant would like to keep him at home, but Ali ends up as an exploited hothouse worker before starting another escape. Ali and Gaetano's parallel stories finally cross, mirroring each other in the men's desperate conditions and their inability to control their destiny.

Film Details

Also Known As
Mother Land, Motherland, Terramadre
Genre
Drama
Foreign
Release Date
2008
Production Company
Comune Di Palma Di Montechiaro

Technical Specs

Duration
2h

Quotes

Trivia

Miscellaneous Notes

Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (Forum) February 7-17, 2008.

Shown at Vancouver International Film Festival (Cinema of Our Time) September 25-October 10, 2008.

HDCam

dialogue Italian