101115 ZWHE Infopage English (web)

Monday, 15.01.2007 „Inside the landing gear of a
SN Brussels Airlines plane a male dead body was
found. The aircraft started its journey in Banjul,
Gambia, made a stopover in Dakar and arrived at
Brussels Zavantem airport on Monday. Most likely
the man entered the landing gear in Banjul, as he
was wearing a jacket of an airport worker and also
having Gambian money with him.“
2003 „New York (dpa) - Inside the landing gear
of a British Airways airplane a dead body was
found after landing in New York. According to
WCBS, the 30-year-old man must have hidden
in the landing gear shortly before take off in
London. Its not unusual that people are dying
as a result of desperate attempts of escape to
the US. Just a week ago a young Jamaican
was found dead at Kennedy-Airport inside an
undercarriage.
AND EARTH
BETWEEN HEAVEN
ZWISCHEN HIMMEL
UND ERDE
PRESS REPORTS
„2nd of August 1999, Yaguine Koïta and Fodé
Tounkara are found inside the landing gear of a
Sabena airplane in Brussels. They were frozen to
death. In their pocket a letter was found:
„Excellencies, masters and responsible of Europe:
We call upon your solidarity and affection and beg
you for helping Africa…“
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SYNOPSIS
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Born and raised in a township at the Ivory Coast the brothers Koroballa and Tiemogo experience the
beauty and the terribleness of Ivorian life. The death of their father and the lack of prospects initiate
Koroballa's plan to leave his country. One night not knowing that Tiemogo is following him he sneaks
into his secret getaway place, a landing gear of a plane. Before he even notices, Tiemogo and himself
are trapped and his brother is not prepared at all. A story about brotherhood, freedom and the desire
for a better future begins.
Everything began with the aforementioned press reports. They immediately provoked lots of pictures
and emotions in my head. I knew from the beginning that I have to make a film about this story.
Country of Origin:!
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During the writing process we started the casting. I wanted to have real refugees who speak the same
language and have experiences with acting. After casting hundreds of people we eventually found
them. They were born in the Ivory Coast and I formed a back-story close to their own experiences.
Producer /
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DOP:!
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Executive Producer:!
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Koroballa:!
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Tiemogo:!
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Germany! !
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South Africa, Germany!
Shortfilm!
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15 Min.!
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York-Fabian Raabe!!
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Nikos Welter
Frank Krug
Döndü Kilic
Helena Ekre
Lars Löhn
Ibrahima Sanogo
Yaya Kone (Bartez Hamburg)!
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Completion:!!
Aug. / Okt. 2009
Super 35 mm
Tragedy
Juli 2010
Contact:
York-Fabian Raabe Filmproduktion
Fredericiastraße 6
14059 Berlin
Fax: !
+49 30 34349550
Mobile:! +49 173 457 85 38
E-Mail:! info@viewyork.de
Website:! www.viewyork.de
I started researching in order to get a better overview of this topic. I met with refugees and
organisations. I read books about the African refugee trails and then I started screenwriting. With my
first draft in hand it wasnʻt hard to convince my partners to work with me on the project. Unfortunately it
was much harder to finance the movie because of the world financial crisis even though my last film
won prices like the Michael Ballhaus Camera Price.
In combination with the rehearsal process we had to give our actors an impression how it feels to be
inside a landing gear. We developed a program that included among other things, a visit at Airbus in
Hamburg, acting in dark rooms, acting in a cooling chamber at -20 degrees, acting in a high altitude
chamber that simulates lack of oxygen and a diving course for practiceing with an oxygen mask.
We shot the film in Berlin, Germany and in Johannesburg, South Africa. In Germany we were
supported by Lufthansa, which gave as a genuine landing gear of an Airbus A300. We transported it to
Berlin and built a cocoon around it.
In Africa we went to the poorest part of the Johannesburg Township Tembisa. We made contact with
the locals and found a perfect place for our shoot. As we did not have much money we decided to
spend the money at the people in the Township and not for semi professional filmmakers. With the
locals we built the set, rented other locations from them and bought most of our food from local stores.
This idealistic decision had unforeseen consequences. One was that we made genuine inside
experiences which went directly into the film. The other was that we were protected by the people.
Because of this we didnʻt make any bad experiences at one of the most dangerous civil place in the
world.
I learned from Tembisa that there is a certain lightness and a lot of beauty in African life at the same
time as brutality and terribleness. Especially in the nighttime it shows its chaos and terror. This duality
is the basis of the insolvable disunion within the protagonists. They canʻt live at home anymore but
they also canʻt stop missing it.
Supported by (Selection):
AG Kurzfilm, German Films, Cine Postproduction GmbH Geyer Berlin, Studio Funk Berlin, OXFAM
Deutschland, Kodak Deutschland, ARRI Rental Berlin, Lufthansa Technik Hamburg, Media Factory
Berlin, GAAC Mittenwalde, Medias Hamburg, Kortwich Filmtontechnik Berlin, Auswärtiges Amt,
Flüchtlingsrat e.V., Berliner Feuerwehr, Himax, Globe Trotter, Krupp Uhde Südafrika, Goethe
Institut Südafrika, Media Filmservice Johannesburg, AFTA Filmschool Johannesburg, Nates Video
Johannesburg !
It is our goal to provoke awareness for the current refugee situation all over the world. We want people
to understand what it means when you leave home full with false expectations and then have to cope
with what ever comes.
Youʻll find more information and pictures on my website www.viewyork.de.
Yours sincerely
York-Fabian Raabe
DIRECTOR‘S NOTE
We made this movie because we believe this story has to be told. On the one hand it is the very
personal story of two African brothers who try to flee to Europe on the other hand it is only one story of
more than 60 million refugees worldwide.
Although this topic is all over the media people donʻt really know much about it. We donʻt know who
these refugees really are. Mostly they are presented as numbers and statistics like „18 refugees are
found by fishermen“ and not like individuals who often have a very complicated background.
And this is only one example but it shows how limited the public discussion about this topic is. One
reason for that is the complexity of the refugee problem. There is no easy satisfying solution and
everybody who worked in foreign aid knows how difficult it can be to make little improvements.
I wanted to draw a complex picture where refugees are not only poor, starving and pitiful. I met a lot of
refugees in Germany as well as in the townships of Johannesburg, where we shot our film and in other
African countries. All these people influenced my characters.
As this movie has an important message I wanted to make it for a wide audience. In order to achieve
this I tried to bring my viewers as close to my characters as possible. Structure wise I chose an easy
plot: Two African brother try to flee to Germany inside of a landing gear. We supported this plot with our
music which is influenced by Thomas Newman.
Underneath this basic plot I placed the actual story combined with many implied subplots. These
subplots are meticulously researched and base on experiences my actors or me made ourselves.
Some of them are very specific and it is not intended that they are all understood by every viewer.
There is for example the scene where they dream about Germany. Koroballa tells Tiemogo what he
heard about Germany from the German doctor. This scene has many different layers. One layer is the
reality in Germany. If you have bad luck and you loose your job you get government support in order to
survive. This is a very unpleasant situation. But Koroballa interprets this situation out of his view saying
in the movie „You only have to work there if you want to“, „They give you money and a flat...“. Tiemogo
has to laugh because he doesnʻt really believe it but also a part of him wants to believe it and therefore
he says in the end: „You are selling me paradise“. And this is so very much true as untrue. Because
many people in Africa really think that Europe, America or Australia are a paradise. And if you see the
way a person has to live in a township it is comprehensible. This scene shows how much distorted the
perspectives are on both sides.
Another subplot is the origin of the two brothers. The Ivory Coast is in a state of civil war for nearly 10
years now. And there is no solution in sight. The situation of the population becomes worse every day
although it used to be the third riches country of Africa. It once had more than 75% of the cacao
production worldwide. It has wood, food, oils and diamonds. It could be one of the most prosperous
countries in the world. The biggest problem causes a law that says an Ivorian is only an Ivorian if as
well his father as his mother are Ivorian. People who are not Ivorian are not allowed to vote. The north
of the Ivory Coast is highly mixed with immigrants of countries like Mali and Burkina Faso and as they
are no „official“ Ivorians they are not allowed to vote. This lead to the civil war. My actors are from the
north. The first monologue of Koroaballa in the film is very much his own personal voice. And the
pictures are from a famous incident in the Ivory coast where French troops are closed in on the „Hotel
Ivory“. You can find this video on youtube.
Another subplot is the second monologue. It shows how angry some refugees are because on the one
hand they love their home on the other hand they live in such miserable circumstances that they just
have to leave because if they stay they will become the same people they hate. And they know they
will never find a new home because they will always miss their own. This monologue shows how much
lost our character is in this world.
The story (not the plot) of our film is about two brothers. Tiemogo the younger brother once took drugs
what totally changed his life. He was banned from his family and his society. Out of this he became a
drug addict and dealer. He knows that he has to leave because otherwise he would end up being killed
in the street. When he realised that his brother wants to leave he knows that it is his final chance.
Koroballa is a self confident strong man. He has a beautiful girlfriend and is a well respected member
of his society. He has to take care of his brothers and sisters because his father has many different
wives and his mother is dead. His brother Tiemogo always brings himself into trouble. After the death
of the father Koroballa decides to flee because he doesnʻt want to go down in this society like his
father did and his brother is doing. He prepares himself and when he tells his girlfriend she shouts at
him. This makes him very angry and he accuses eveyone in his society. He is doing that because he
hates the fact that he loves his home but he has to leave it.
Inside the landing gear when he realises that his brother has followed him he knows that he has to do
everything to make him survive. And in this special situation it is the first time that they really talk.
Koroballa now realises that he had the responsibility after the father died and that he should have
taken care of Tiemogo. But he was only thinking about himself. And although he is doing everything
now to save his brotherʻs life Tiemogo is going to die. The first time they are that close to each other
and the first time when they become real brothers. Thats the tragedy.
Thank you very much for taking time for my note.
York-Fabian Raabe
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
Juli 2010 !!
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L.A. Shorts Fest 2010!
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„Best Foreign Film“ (Academy recognised)!
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August 2010!
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„Winner National Competition“
Kodak Film School Competition 2010 (ZWHE is no film school film!)
September 2010!
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October 2010! !
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November 2010!!
„Prädikat Besonders Wertvoll“
Highest Award of the „German Film and Media
Evaluation Institute“ (FBW)!
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Hof International Film Festival !
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International Short Film Festival Berlin Competition!
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St. Louis International Film Festival Competition
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CAMERIMAGE International Film Festival Competition
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