Land Rush

DIRECTORS: Hugo Berkeley, Osvalde Lewat   COUNTRIES: Mali, United States YEAR: 2012   LANGUAGE(S): English, French   SUBTITLES: English   RUNNING TIME: 58 min  

SECTION: International Forum 2015

The screening will be followed by an in-depth conversation with novellist Ilija Trojanow.

SYNOPSIS

75 % of Mali’s population are farmers, but rich nations like China and Saudi Arabia are leasing their land in order to establish large agribusinesses. Many Malian peasants do not welcome these efforts, seeing them as yet another manifestation of imperialism. The documentary follows American sugar developer Mima Nedelcovych’s Sosumar scheme – a $600 million partnership between the Government of Mali to lease 200-square kilometers of prime agricultural land for a plantation and factory. However, unlike some of his competitors, Mima sees the involvement of the local community as key to the project’s success and offers partnership to local farmers as contracted sugar cane growers with the prospect of becoming, in time, “a small commercial farmer and then a larger commercial farmer.” But the scheme isn’t welcomed by everyone and the Sosumar experiment abruptly ends when a military coup takes place in Mali.

An in-depth discussion with author Ilija Trojanow will follow the screening and look at the connections between economic policy and migration: Why do people up and go? What lies behind escape and migration? What must be done to curb the ongoing destruction of livelihoods? Ilija Trojanow, whose novel The Collector of Worlds is an internationally acclaimed bestseller, has visited Mali several times. His new book, called Power and Resistance was published in September 2015. Ilija Trojanow is on the board of trustees of the medico international foundation.

OSVALDE LEWAT

Osvalde Lewat is an award-winning film director from Cameroon, specialising in social and political subjects. Documentaries include THE PEACE PIPE OF HOPE, shot among native American communities fighting the stereotypes ascribed by North American society, LOVE DURING WAR, in which she documents the abuse of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and BLACK BUSINESS, revealing the story of a Cameroonian special unit responsible for the death and disappearance of thousands of civilians. All her films address injustices.

FILMOGRAPHY
Beyond the Sentence (2002), Black Business (2008), Sderot, Last Exit (2012), Land Rush (2012)

HUGO BERKELEY

Hugo Berkely is a director and producer of documentaries and television programmes. Having divided his life between Europe and America, he makes films that often reach beyond national borders to explore social change in a global context. He won the best documentary award at the Tribeca Film Festival for A NORMAL LIFE (co-directed with Chai Vasarhelyi), which follows a group of friends over three years in post-war Kosovo as they struggle to rebuild their lives and their country.

FILMOGRAPHY
A Normal Life (2003), Land Rush (2012)

PRODUCERS: Eli Cane, Hugo Berkeley   CAMERA: Crystel Fournier   EDITOR: Lizi Gelber  

PRODUCTION: Normal Life Pictures, Steps International   WORLD SALES: Steps International