White Shadow
Description
Not merely an ancient tradition, but a modern-day practice, the underground trade of albino body parts still pervades in Tanzania, ironically a country with one of the highest percentages of albinism in the world. Used primarily by witch doctors, these parts can command prices of up to thousands of dollars, offering a tempting source of revenue for the working-class. In Noaz Deshe’s White Shadow, Alias (Hamisi Bazili), an albino youth on the verge of adolescence, must learn to navigate a world in which he is not just an outsider, but actual prey. For him, survival means more than just securing food and shelter, it means living with constant watchfulness and a degree of protective isolation, even as he yearns for human connection, which he clandestinely cultivates with his cousin, Antoinette (Glory Mbayuwayu), and his young friend (and fellow albino) Salum (Salum Abdallah). The film’s fractured and uneasy world zigzags between the village and the city, from transcendent flights of fancy to scenes of desperate brutality. But despite the pervasive, often harrowing amorality of this world, it’s one not entirely bereft of hope, allowing Alias to grow into an identity beyond that of a hunted outcast, as a champion for his own destiny. –Nicole Gluckstern
Born in Jaffa, Israel, filmmaker Noaz Deshe splits his time between Berlin and Los Angeles and has worked variously as a teacher, composer, music video director and graphic novelist. His German-Italian-Tanzanian co-production White Shadow won the Luigi de Laurentiis award for best debut film at the 2013 Venice Film Festival.
Trailer
//player.vimeo.com/video/88115492?autoplay=1Film Details
Language Swahili
Year 2013
Runtime 115
Country Italy/Germany/Tanzania
Director Noaz Deshe
Producer Ginevra Elkann, Noaz Deshe, Francesco Melzi d'Eril
Writer Noaz Deshe, James Masson
Editor Noaz Deshe, Xavier Box, Robin Hill, Nico Leunen
Cinematographer Armin Dierolf, Noaz Deshe
Music James Masson, Noaz Deshe
Cast Hamisi Bazili, James Gayo, Glory Mbayuwayu
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