17/07/2024 - Based on real events, the story of an Eritrean female human trafficker is at the heart of this penetrating drama about immigration, which signals Daniel Espinosa’s return to Europe

After directing Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds in the sci-fi horror Life, and Oscar-winner Jared Leto in the not-so-successful Spider Man spin-off, Morbius, Swedish director of Chilean origin Daniel Espinosa (Easy Money [+see also:
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film profile], Child 44 [+see also:
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film profile]) has made his return to Europe to offer up Madame Luna, a drama about immigration which doesn’t feature famous names and which is based on a true story (see our interview with producer Vicky Miha). The protagonist is an Eritrean woman with a past as a ruthless human trafficker who, having been forced to flee Libya, has had to undertake a tragic journey across the Mediterranean herself and who mixes with other survivors once arrived in Italy.

Can a person change after committing unforgivable acts? This is one of the questions asked by Espinosa’s film which, following its world premiere in Rotterdam and the prize it won in Gothenburg (for Best Photography), has been selected for the Taormina Film Festival ahead of its release in Italian cinemas on 18 July via Europictures. At the beginning of the movie, we see Almaz (Meninet Abraha Teferi) lost in a long line of migrants who have just arrived in Calabria, who are then examined, interrogated and allocated a number before being transferred to a local reception centre. We suspect this woman has something to hide, going by her furtive glances, her instinct to avoid police checks, and a phone call in which she confides she feels like she’s in danger. Our suspicions are confirmed when a compatriot of hers, Eli (Hilyam Weldemichael), recognises her on the street, calls her Madame Luna and calls her a criminal.

But young Eli, whose desperate and alone, promises not to report Almaz to the police if the latter helps her to free her brother who is currently being held in Libya. “You’ll need courage, not tears. And a lot of money”, is Almaz’s frosty response, who nonetheless finds the girl a job to help her achieve her aims. In the meantime, our former trafficker who hides her past wins the trust of a family of criminals who use their cooperative to take advantage of migrants, first and foremost Nunzia (Claudia Potenza) and her brother Pino (Emanuele Vicorito). Speaking four languages and worldly-wise, the Eritrean offers to help them organise the labourers working in the camps in exchange for support vis-à-vis the Commission to obtain asylum and identity papers.

Things seem to be going well for Almaz, who secures untouchable status for herself, and the prospect of lucrative business with the Calabrian family at the migrants’ expense. But she’s continually haunted by nightmares where bodies float back up to the sea’s surface, and evidence of the cruel destiny which awaits other less wily refugees – Eli in particular – soon becomes intolerable.

Written by the director, together with Israeli-Palestinian screenwriter Suha Arraf (Lemon Tree [+see also:
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interview: Domenico Procacci
interview: Jean Labadie
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile] and Black Souls [+see also:
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interview: Francesco Munzi
film profile] Maurizio Braucci, the film strikes a healthy balance between a brutal social portrait and an exploration of the internal dilemmas faced by our tough protagonist. In fact, special mention should be made of actress, Meninet Abraha Teferi, whose intensity and screen-presence are second to none. Madame Luna is first and foremost a drama about survival. When Eli asks her if she feels guilty for her actions, the former trafficker replies: “I care about the dead, but I care more about staying alive”. What we’re prepared to do in order to survive is another question the film asks, introducing the unusual viewpoint of the perpetrator to the landscape of migrant-based dramas.

Madame Luna is an Italian-Swedish production steered by Momento Film, Hercules Film Fund, Rhea Films, Dugong Films, Tv4 and Film i Väst. International sales are entrusted to Goodfellas.

(Translated from Italian)