3,700 kilometres of coastline, a Fiat Millecento, and an old travel diary, those are the ingredients for Pepe Danquart’s documentary Ahead of me the South (Vor mir der Süden). Following the footsteps of the great Italian thinker Pier Paolo Pasolini, the filmmaker gains a deep insight into the social reality of present-day Italy. The country is massively affected by globalisation and the phenomenon of mass tourism, which, more than ever, is characterised by the same hedonistic conformity that Pasolini lamented more than fifty years ago. The film also sheds light on the situation of African refugees who, after their perilous flight to Europe, mostly end up on the Italian coast. Ahead of me the South is a poetic contemporary document, a kaleidoscopic picture of the Italy of today.

 

 

116 min | Creative documentary | Germany, Italy

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Director: Pepe Danquart

Screenplay: Pepe Danquart

Assistant director: Nadja Röggla

Cinematography: Thomas Eirich-Schneider

Camera assistant: Mattia Ottaviani

Film editing: Andrew Bird, Gregor Bartsch

Music: Amiina

Song on the end credits: Etta Scollo

Voiceover: Ben Posener

Sound: Martin Fliri

Sound design: Clemens Endress

Re-recording mixer: Adrian Baumeister

Producers: Susa Kusche, Pepe Danquart

Co-producers: Wilfried Gufler, Thomas Menghin

Production: bittersuess pictures

Co-production: Albolina Film

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In collaboration with: Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR); Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB); arte

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With the support of: Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media); IDM Film Funding Südtirol; Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (the Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein Film Fund) Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg Deutscher Filmförderfonds (the German Federal Film Fund); Mibact – Direzione Generale Cinema

 

Editing: Timo Großpietsch (NDR) Jens Stubenrauch (RBB) Dagmar Mielke (arte)

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FESTIVALS & PRIZES

World premiere at Fünf Seen Filmfestival 2020

37. Kasseler Dokfestes 2020 (Germany)

Best international documentary at DOC LA - International Documentary Film Festival of Los Angeles

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