THE STRONG MAN OF BURENG
Mauro Bucci | Italy 2023 | 75 min. | Mandinka, Finnish, Italian with English subtitles
TUESDAY, 21.05. | 5 pm
Votiv Kino, Gr. Saal | TICKETS
Austrian premiere
In presence of Mauro Bucci
Former UN soldier Essa has fled the Gambia for Finland, where he has successfully set up a business that provides for his family. Back in his hometown Bureng, he is celebrated as a hero. During a visit home, world events catch up with him: The coronavirus outbreak jeopardises Essa’s return to Europe and his application to renew his residence permit, plunging him into one of the most serious crises of his life.
THE STRONG MAN OF BURENG accompanies Essa on a four-year odyssey and explores the complex family relationships between migration and home country, revealing how because of their precarious situation, migrants can lose everything in the blink of an eye, despite their hard-earned success and prosperity.
Director: Mauro Bucci
Cinematography: Mauro Bucci
Editing: Mauro Bucci
Sound: Mauro Bucci
Production: Mauro Bucci Ethnographic Film
SCREENINGS AND AWARDS
Activists Without Borders Film Festival – Manchester, UK, December 2023
COLIFFE – Coliseum International Film Festival – Rome, Italy, December 2023 (premiere) – Best Cinematic Editing Award – National Docu-Film Category
KRATFEST – Kratovo International Festival of Ethnological Documentary Film – Macedonia, September 2023
BIOGRAPHY
Mauro Bucci is a filmmaker and independent researcher working in the field of visual anthropology. He is particularly concerned with film’s potential for understanding human experiences and cultural practices. He has authored scientific essays on ethnographic cinema for both Italian and international journals and books. In his films, he focuses on the topic of migration, often working as a one-man crew shooting video, recording sound, and editing footage during long-term ethnographic fieldwork.
