CAPTURING SAMI

Director’s statement

The first synopsis of the script was my police statement. After a few years I wanted to translate into images what I had lived. Transitioning from the certainties I had while witnessing an event to the fear felt when objectively experiencing it constitutes the dramatic arc of the film.
The central theme of the film is reality; the objective and the subjective aspects and how the main character manages to make sense while facing one or the other. The rhythm is progressive, morphing from slow movements to aggressive follow shots with swift cuts. The chaos generated by the motion of the camera-character merges with a fixed camera that follows the characters' unpredictable actions. The tone is realistic and sometimes tragic-comic. SAMI, a young, tall, frail man facing the gendarmes wearing protective gear, black balaclavas and batons, generate an absurd situation, where the threat becomes ridiculous and the tragedy filled with comic touches peaks inside the gendarmerie vehicle.

Producer's statement

I think Adi can deliver a reference film on the delicate subject of protests. The position of a self – proclaimed “neutral” participant as his character pretends to be is heavily challenged, but not in the direction of choosing one side, as a lot of stories do, but questioning one person’s limits facing arbitrary violence in a complex societal environment.
The film’s strengths are: the story which seems to be of current interest, the thrilling suspense, the acting, the scenery, a promising director. The context is built on observing the mechanisms and energies of public protests, and the way an individual is relating to these two entities: the crowd and the authorities arm. There is a huge potential for riots, and further events cannot be predicted, but the complex reasons and geopolitical elements that would ignite them are very present in the present societies. A lot of manipulation can also emerge, and some hidden forces may be trying to divert events favoring their own agenda.