A DOCUMENTARY FILM BY ALEJANDRO G. SALGADO
PRODUCED BY LA MALETA
CONTACT FOR INTERNATIONAL SALES & FESTIVALS: WIDE HOUSE | [email protected]
IT IS A JOURNEY IN SPACE AND TIME TOWARDS MOTHERHOOD BY THE
HAND OF WOMEN WHO COME TO SACRIFICE EVERYTHING TO REACH
THE “EUROPEAN DREAM”.
BOLINGO. THE FOREST OF LOVE tells the story of the journey made by several
women from the heart of Africa to North Morocco looking for the “European
dream”.
This journey will get them into a trip to motherhood at Bolingo or some other
awaiting camp settled next to the Moroccan-Spanish border.
Bolingo means love in Lingala, the language of a group of Congolese migrants
that decided to give a little humanity to the migrants’ drama in the north of
Africa. Thus, they created a camp where migrant women could live with their
children until circumstances allowed them to cross the border to Europe.
BOLINGO. THE FOREST OF LOVE shows the way in which these mothers confront
their survival and the raising of their children during an unlimited time in a
hostile land.
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THE JOURNEY · NIGHT · LOVE
The creation of Bolingo starts as a flash of love and will embark on the journeys of our protagonists through their testimonies, moving ahead between the lights and shadows of different paths until reaching the camp site.
THE JOURNEY
NIGHT
LOVE
The journey is the basis of our story. Without the journey, there is no
dream; no experiences, no reflection, nothing. This story would not make any
sense without the journey, merely because there is no other option.
Bolingo is the result of the needs that arise from their journey, forming part
of the journey itself but not forming an additional part. It is an obligatory
stop along the way forced by circumstances and a refuge which also becomes
a trap.
BOLINGO is a story of lights and shadows, and of struggle and hope,
but unfortunately, it is also a story imbued with suffering and darkness.
Everything gets bigger at night. Dreams and nightmares become more real,
almost tangible. The worst acts also take place at night, under the cover of
darkness, and so grows the fear of the unknown.
But it is also at night when these women are able to overcome the ghosts of
the past, hand in hand with their little babies.
Bolingo means love. Love is the engine of this story.
From the start of each journey to their stay in the camp, each story is marked
by glimpses of love, by particular acts that make life worth living, as it would
be otherwise impossible for these women to continue their journeys; it would
be impossible for them to continue living.
They have sacrificed it all for their love of an idea, and in the middle of that
journey, in the midst of situations of extreme cruelty, it was only love what
made them stronger.
This is a story of mother-child love, the love for children, of whom many were
conceived through rape. Children who are after all part of their mothers, their
story and their beings. Children who acted as a driving force to push forward, to
avoid despair and to give meaning to their mother’s gamble, journey and lives.
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DIRECTOR’S NOTE
For the three years the creative process of this work has lasted, Bolingo has
become a key part of my life. I have loved, suffered and taken care of every
single drawback or twist the project has had as if it were a part of me.
Throughout of all of this time, both the idea and the project have undergone
several transformations due to the difficulty involved in every single part of
the film discourse, as well as the firm commitment related to each of them
from the very beginning.
The enormous difficulty in accessing the camp and even its disappearance due
to the intervention of the Moroccan Gendarmerie has to be coupled with the
effort involved in the search, for so many years, of different women’s profiles
suitable for the project. Women who were able to trust in the idea and in our
honesty, who would allow us to enter their lives and work with them, that
were capable of standing in front of the camera maintaining the tone while
ALEJANDRO G. SALGADO · DIRECTOR
they were opening terribly painful wounds, not knowing when they would be
able to close them again.
The tone of the work is sometimes harsh, because it contains for an extended
period of time the dramatic tension by means of the silence, the breathing
and the gaze. Likewise, soundscapes and animated illustrations move and
transport us to help us transition between different sceneries.
The story of Bolingo is like a lullaby, wild and menacing yet hypnotic and calm.
The story of Bolingo is the story of a place that despite being at the frontier
of reverie, sees its genesis in the genuine desire to mitigate the threat of a
terrible reality. However, neither the fear resulting from the needs of the
present, nor the uncertainty of the future nor the scars from the past are
resolved in this “magic space,” which of the little that continues to linger, is
practically the only factor which differentiates itself from the rest: its name.
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ALEJANDRO G. SALGADO graduated in Media & Communication Studies
and History of Art from University of Seville. He completed his studies by
an specialisation in long feature film script writting in Estudio de Cine in
Barcelona.
In 2010 Alejandro won INJUVE Award to Young Creation (Ministry of Health
Social Services and Equality) as well as many national and international
awards for AMONG TISSUES AND DREAMS short documentary project.
Since 2011 he worked with direction and production teams of various feature
films EL HOMBRE DE LAS MIL CARAS by Alberto Rodríguez, LEJOS DEL MAR
by Inmanol Uribe, TORO by Kike Maíllo or THE SLEEPING VOICE by Benito
Zambrano. In 2013 he directed THE DISORDER OF THE SENSES documentary
film, ASECAN prize to the 2014 Best Andalusian Documentary Short Film
among other international awards.
In 2013 he directed THE DISORDER OF THE SENSES documentary film, Best
Documentary Short Film is festivals in Canada, Turkey or Philippines and Best
Andalusian Documentary Short Film- ASECAN among other international &
national awards.
From 2014 he belongs to the production company La Maleta and at the same time
he writes and directs different types of audiovisual works.
In 2016 he directs the documentary film BOLINGO. THE FOREST OF LOVE (IDFA
Competition for Mid-Length Documentary and IMAGENERA 2016 Silver Award).
PRODUCER’S NOTES
The idea of opting for a project like BOLINGO given the resources we had as
a production company was undoubtedly a very risky and complex baseline
initiative, and so has been proven by the sequence of events.
However, we have been able to overcome the challenging environment (at all
levels of action) through creativity, hard work and the energy resulting from
the certainty that we are dealing with a really powerful idea, which we knew
how to convey in an honest and noble manner, and furthermore that idea
could have an impact upon the collective.
The production of a piece like BOLINGO has had two key components that
conditioned the whole process:
-A constant work with the women in order to being able to understand their
codes and needs as well as being capable to guarantee them the chance to
make a reflection exercise in freedom and security.
IRENE HENS · PRODUCER
- A shooting in conflict areas such as the waiting camps, which has placed us
in a context of permanent resizing in terms of production.
These conditioning factors have certainly provided the most valuable lessons
in a learning exercise that has taken more than three years of work.
In our range of social documentary with invisibility as the focal point, we have
been able to create a story told by some specific women and about a specific
migratory transit, but which ultimately is the story of many women and many
transits. The story of Bolingo is a journey to the future as well as a journey
to motherhood. And certainly these journeys are full of universal elements
which concern us much more than it may appear.
Our story is one of immigration, gender, European dream, childhood, racism,
xenophobia, conflict, but above all, our story is about love.
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Irene Hens graduated in Audiovisual Communication and specialized in Cultural
Management at the Confederation of Businessmen of Andalusia, as well as
in Cultural Management and Policies from Open University of Catalonia. She
furthered her education at the Art & Culture Business School and obtained her
Master’s Degree in Management of Art and Cultural Organizations.
With a professional career that falls within the field of audiovisual production,
she has worked as Production Manager in documentaries such as BOLINGO. THE
FOREST OF LOVE and THE DISORDER OF THE SENSES, both directed by Alejandro
G. Salgado and produced by their production company La Maleta. She has also
worked as Production Coordinator in the feature film THE MOBILE, the latest
production by filmmaker Manuel Martín Cuenca, and as Head of Production in
several advertising spots.
In the field of event production and coordination, she has worked in festivals
such as the Seville European Film Festival for six editions, within the areas of
Management and Communication, media plan and sponsorships; ZEMOS98 and
events related to the creative and cultural industries like “Encuentro Lunar” or
“Creativa”, both of which are promoted by the Department of Innovation, Science
and Enterprise of the Andalusian Government.
Furthermore, she has developed part of her professional path as cultural
consultant, specializing in sponsorships and cultural patronage for the Cordoba
Guitar Festival, “Nocturama” and “Mes de Danza.”
LA MALETA
LA MALETA is a company dedicated to audiovisual production and cultural
creation. This company is formed by four partners and a wide network of
contributors who have dedicated their careers to the management and
the production of festivals, to movie making and to specialized audiovisual
technique. Alejandro G. Salgado, Irene Hens, David G. López de la Osa and
Blanca Garcia Carrera are the seed of this project, that has been active since
2008. They are an experienced professional & creative production team
specialized in audiovisual service, documentary projects development and
finding funding.
LA MALETA has participated with their works in many international
film festivals such as Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival
(Qatar), travelling through countries from Canada to Philippines with their
documentary films THE DISORDEN OF THE SENSE and AMONG TISSUES AND
DREAMS. BOLINGO. THE FOREST OF LOVE is it last documentary film and has been
selected for IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary and won IMAGENERA
2016 Silver Award.
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DETAILS
DOCUMENTARY | ENGLISH | SPAIN | 2016 | 55’
Subttitles availables: SPANISH, ENGLISH
- Ministry of Culture (ICAA): “NOT
SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 12” and with the distinctive “ESPECIALLY
RECOMMENDED FOR THE PROMOTION OF GENDER EQUALITY.”
official rating of the institute of film and audiovisual arts
CAST & CREW
THE WOMEN
THE WOMEN WHO WERE BRAVE ENOUGH TO SIT BEFORE US AND REOPEN THEIR
WOUNDS TO TELL THEIR STORY HAVE DECIDED TO PRESERVE THEIR IDENTITY.
WE MUST RECOGNIZE THEIR INFINITE GENEROSITY AND THANK THEM... FOR THE
EFFORT IT MEANT FOR THEM TO ACCEPT THIS CHALLENGE.
Direction ALEJANDRO G. SALGADO
Executive producer IRENE HENS
Cinematography SERGIO CARO & DAVID G. LÓPEZ DE LA OSA
Sound CARLI PÉREZ
Sound design & supervising RAFA MARTÍNEZ
Illustration ÓSCAR ORTIZ MARZO
Music CLAUDIO MAESTRE
Film editing DAVID G. LÓPEZ DE LA OSA & ALEJANDRO G. SALGADO
Graphic image BLANCA G. CARRERA
Animation coordinator DAVID G. LÓPEZ DE LA OSA
Animation assistants ÁNGEL VÁZQUEZ & ÁNGELES INVERNÓN
color correction JUAN JOSÉ MULERO
production assistant (morroco) JOSÉ COLÓN & SERGIO CARO
production assistant (spain) RUBÉN MURO
Mix 5.1 JOSÉ A. MANOVEL
assistant sound editor RAFA CASTILLA
music mixer engineer CRIS ROMERO
Narrator GLORIA EKEREUWEM
Content consultant ESPERANZA JORGE BARBUZANO
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BOLINGO. THE FOREST OF LOVE
2016
PRODUCED BY
PARTICIPATED BY
SUPPORTED BY
INTERNATIONA SALES