Emerson Culurgioni and Stefanie Schroeder wrap La Duna
by Teresa Vena
- The German experimental documentary about land ownership, shot on Sardinia, “explores the complex relationships between land, identity and power”
Emerson Culurgioni and Stefanie Schroeder have created an experimental documentary that focuses on environmental topics. Their first joint project, called La Duna (lit. “The Dune”), was completed in early October. It is now awaiting its world premiere and theatrical release. The person responsible for the cinematography was Joanna Piechotta, who was also in charge of lensing the documentary Progress in the Valley of the People Who Don't Know [+see also:
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The film takes an urban legend as the starting point for its reflection on environmental and ecological topics. It is said that a power-mad ex-prime minister stole a sand dune on the south coast of Sardinia. The ex-prime minister in question is Silvio Berlusconi. This is where the film drew its inspiration from, and the primary question that the filmmakers ask is: “Who owns the land?”
“A collection of bizarre, fairy tale-like, absurd and true stories about power, ownership and resistance, with characters and themes ranging from an expropriated farmer scaring off NATO with goat skulls and a fictitious warfare scenario involving the invention of Africa, through a housewife disguised as a psychologist and a scattered Sardinian family preparing a large pile of couscous for populist environmentalists, to tonnes of sand in plastic bottles and an enduring battle for the narrative,” is how the directors describe their film. “In our documentary, we explore the complex relationships between land, identity and power on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia,” added the filmmakers.
While Culurgioni focuses on the socio-economic tensions arising from tourism and politics on the island, Schroeder concentrates on critically examining the influence of entrepreneurship on society. Together, they use different formats and narrative resources, mixing classical documentary with parody and pushing the boundaries between objectivity and storytelling. La Duna is meant to trace the diverse picture of Sardinian reality. It not only “aims to provide a window on the specific challenges of Sardinia, but also to serve as a catalyst for a broader discussion on the complex connections between land, power and identity in today's world.”
La Duna is a production by Rosenpictures Filmproduktion GbR in co-production with Emerson Culurgioni and Stefanie Schroeder. It was funded and created as part of the Pilotprogramm initiative of the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung.
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