To jog your memories regarding Back Home Tomorrow, which received a Cinereach Award in connection with last year’s Human Rights Watch Film Festival, the film deftly weaves together the stories of two children affected by war during their stays in the caring hands of Italian aid organization Emergency. Yagoub fled with his family from Darfur to the Mayo Refugee Camp in Khartoum. He has to undergo a serious heart operation, but neither his family nor his fellow tribesmen can come up with the money to pay for it. Murtaza is recuperating in a hospital in Kabul after losing his left hand to a landmine.

Eric Talbert of EMERGENCY USA, the international aid organization that provides medical care to the subjects of the film, took questions regarding the organization.  One of the film’s co-directors, Fabrizio Lazaretti, had hoped to join the Q&A via skype but was unable to. Audience members had some follow-up questions for Fabrizio which we relayed to him by email. We’ve posted his answers below, in addition to  relaying some key points from Eric regarding EMERGENCY USA.

If you haven’t seen the film, or would like to see it again, please add the film to your queue on Netflix. We hope it will soon be available to view in the US as it has recently been released on DVD in Italy (where the directors are from).

Murtaza, one of Back Home Tomorrow's young protagonists

Email Q&A from Fabrizio Lazzaretti

Q: Can you discuss your shooting format and the approach you used to capture Back Home Tomorrow? How were you able to achieve such compelling and extensive coverage during difficult and frightening circumstances?

We shot Back Home Tomorrow on HDV, and used two Sony Z1 cameras and a Sony AE1. [Co-director Paolo Santorini and I] shot for most of the time with two cameras simultaneously to obtain a fluid visual  language much closer to narrative cinema than to traditional documentary.

The scenes that are painful to watch in the film unfortunately represent just a fraction of what we witnessed. Being behind cameras helps to distance us from a scene a bit, because we concentrate on the technical aspects of capturing what is unfolding. But the sadness of what we were witnessing did often follow us home at night and stays with us still.

However while we did witness extreme human suffering, and it has definitely left deep scars, the experience also gave us the opportunity to observe great resilience and strength – which was especially powerful to see in the young boys that were the subjects of our film.

Q: How did you become involved with EMERGENCY?

I started working with Emergency in 1999-2000, making a film about the construction of their first hospital in the Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan during the war between the Taliban and the Mujaheddin. After September 11, 2001 we returned to shoot another film on the takeover of Kabul. In 2006, we knew that Emergency wanted to build its first Cardiac Center to treat patients free of charge in Africa, so we decided to join forces again to portray this new experience. We wanted to tell two parallel human stories that were representative of the NGO’s work in two distant countries, but similar in how they handled the long-term effects of war.

Q: How did you find your protagonists?

For the Sudan part of the story, we met Yagoub in the pediatric clinic of Emergency which was located in the Mayo refugee camp. We decided to start to follow his story in parallel of the building of the Center for Cardiac Surgery because his condition could be treated at the hospital when it was complete.

In Kabul, we were beginning to be familiar with patients at that specific clinic when Murtaza arrived with his injuries, and we began to follow him from the moment he was admitted. In his case, it was really fate that caused us to cross paths.

About Emergency USA

Who: Emergency USA, Life Support for Civilian Victims of War and Poverty, an independent nonprofit organization established to raise awareness through education about a culture of peace and respect for human dignity, and to raise funds and community support for medical care, rehabilitation and relief efforts for victims of wars, landmines and poverty.

What: The programs we support provide free-of-charge, high-standard medical and surgical care in war-torn areas. All facilities are designed, built and managed by the Italian NGO EMERGENCY where specialized international staff is committed to training local medical personnel.

Why: In today’s conflicts 90 percent of the victims are civilians, of which 1/3 are children.

When: EMERGENCY USA’s (2005) medical-humanitarian mission is inspired by the innovation, integrity and accomplishments of the international NGO based in Italy, EMERGENCY which has operated independently since 1994.

Where: Afghanistan, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Iraq, Italy, Sierra Leone and Sudan, with a newly opened Pediatric Center in Nyala, South Darfur, in Western Sudan.

EMERGENCY has completed programs in Algeria, Angola, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Serbia and Palestinian Territories.

Getting Involved: For volunteer opportunities that include helping to raise awareness and funds, please contact info@emergencyusa.org.

More info:
www.emergencyusa.org
www.emergency.it
www.emergencyuk.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Reva Goldberg (reva@cinereach.org)
212.727.3224 x11

2009 CINEREACH AWARD PRESENTED TO
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILMMAKERS
FABRIZIO LAZZARETTI AND PAOLO SANTOLINI

Back Home Tomorrow tells moving parallel stories of young boys in Kabul and Khartoum

www.cinereach.org
www.hrw.org/iff

NEW YORK, NY (June 22, 2009) – To help celebrate the 2009 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, Cinereach has presented the 2009 Cinereach Award, a $5,000 prize, to Fabrizio Lazzaretti and Paolo Santolini for their film Back Home Tomorrow. The festival concludes today, June 25th.

In Back Home Tomorrow, directors Fabrizio Lazzaretti and Paolo Santolini deftly weave together the stories of two children affected by war during their stays in the caring hands of Italian aid organization Emergency. Yagoub fled with his family from Darfur to the Mayo Refugee Camp in Khartoum. He has to undergo a serious heart operation, but neither his family nor his fellow tribesmen can come up with the money to pay for it. Murtaza is recuperating in a hospital in Kabul after losing his left hand to a landmine. The directors expertly interweave these two fascinating and heartfelt stories without commentary to create a film of complexity, resonance, and hope.

“Back Home Tomorrow exemplifies the meaningful and artistic filmmaking that Cinereach is committed to supporting,” said Cinereach Creative Director Michael Raisler. “We’re proud to join with Human Rights Watch in acknowledging the achievements of these and other filmmakers who use the power of film to promote dialogue and facilitate cross-cultural understanding.”

Last year’s Cinereach Award went to The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) directed by Ellen Kuras and co-directed by Thavisouk Phrasavath. The film went on to win Best Documentary at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Spectrum Award at Full Frame among others, and was nominated for an Academy Award and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary. It will air on PBS’ acclaimed P.O.V. series July 21, 2009.

About Cinereach

Cinereach was created in 2006 by young filmmakers, philanthropists and entrepreneurs with the goal of championing socially relevant films. Its three key areas, Grants & Awards, Productions, and The Reach Film Fellowship facilitate the creation of films that challenge, excite innovate, offer new perspectives and inspire action. Cinereach has awarded close to $2 million in grants and achievement awards since its inception. Past recipients include: A Jihad for Love, an acclaimed documentary exploring the complex intersection of Islam and homosexuality and Entre Nos a narrative feature film from IndiePix that premiered to great acclaim at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. Cinereach’s first in-house documentary, The Road Ahead: The First Green Long March, was a selection of the Hamptons, Queens (Best Intl. Documentary), and Cleveland International film festivals and has screened in connection with leading environmental organizations. www.cinereach.org.

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In Back Home Tomorrow, directors Fabrizio Lazzaretti and Paolo Santolini deftly weave together the stories of two children affected by war during their stays in the caring hands of Italian aid organization Emergency. Yagoub fled with his family from Darfur to the Mayo Refugee Camp in Khartoum. He has to undergo a serious heart operation, but neither his family nor his fellow tribesmen can come up with the money to pay for it. Murtaza is recuperating in a hospital in Kabul after losing his left hand to a landmine. The directors expertly interweave these two fascinating and heartfelt stories without commentary to create a film of complexity, resonance, and hope.

“Back Home Tomorrow exemplifies the meaningful and artistic filmmaking that Cinereach is committed to supporting,” said Cinereach Creative Director Michael Raisler. “We’re proud to join with Human Rights Watch in acknowledging the achievements of these and other filmmakers who use the power of film to promote dialogue and facilitate cross-cultural understanding.”

Q&A with Fabrizio Lazzaretti (director), Paolo Benzi (producer) and Paolo Santolini (director)

Cinereach presented the award to the filmmakers at their Friday night HRWIFF Screening, where Lazzaretti, Santolini and Back Home Tomorrow Producer Paolo Benzi participated in a lively Q&A with an audience that was deeply moved by the film.

Last year’s Cinereach Award went to The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) Directed by Ellen Kuras and Co-Directed by Thavisouk Phrasavath. The film went on to win Best Documentary at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Spectrum Award at Full Frame among others, and was nominated for an Academy Award and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary. It will air on PBS’ acclaimed P.O.V. series July 21, 2009.

Cinereach Award Recipient "Back Home Tomorrow"

Cinereach has chosen “Back Home Tomorrow” to receive a Cinereach Award, a film making its US premiere at NYC’s Human Rights Watch International Film Festival. The film, directed by Fabrizio Lazzaretti and Paolo Santolini, depicts the moving story of two children affected by war. The Cinereach Award is presented to filmmakers who convey vital messages through artful storytelling. Last year’s inaugural award was given to Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath, for their film “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon).” For more on the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, please click here.