MAMA ILLEGAL

A film by Ed Moschitz
Documentary  |  94 min  |  AUT  |  2011

SYNOPSIS

They give their savings to the traffickers and risk their lives on their trip to Western Europe: Aurica, Raia and Natasa, three mothers from a small Moldovan village.

They leave their humble homes, the broken roads, the dilapidated schools and the countless abandoned houses behind to work in Austria or Italy as cleaners or care workers. Here they live a life in the underground - a tough job, without valid documents, unprotected and without health care - separated from their children and families for years. They send the little that remains of the hard-earned Western money home to their families.

But their desire for a brighter future and a better life comes at a high price: After all these years the return looks different than planned. After a long time away from home, the children are grown and the husbands estranged. The social gulf that they sought to overcome threatens to tear apart the families once and for all. Having never really arrived and been accepted in the West, they find that they have become alienated from their homeland.

"MAMA ILLEGAL" portrays seven years in the lives of the three women. The camera is present during tragedies as well as in moments of joy. A film about the price of the dream of a better life.

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DISTRIBUTION

AUSTRIA
POLYFILM

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AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

DER NEUE HEIMATFILM FREISTADT 2012
Bester Dokumentarfilm

MUJER DOC ZARAGOZA 2013
Medium Length Film Award

INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ZAGREB 2013
Special Mention

ONE WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS FILM BRÜSSEL 2012 Bester Film

FESTIVALS

International Exile Film Festival 2013
International Human Rights Film Festival 2013 STREAMS – Online Film Festival 2013
13. goEAST Festival des Mittel & Osteuropäischen Films 2013
mujerDoc 2013
Zagrebdox
International Documentary Film Festival 2013 International Documentary Film Festival Zagreb 2013 CIDFF – CEBU Int’l Documentary Film Festival Manilla, Philippinen 2013
Int’l Filmfest Eberswalde Germany 2013
ANATOLIEN FILMFESTIVAL 2012
DOK LEIPZIG 2012
FESTIVAL DES LIBERTES 2012
AIFF 2012
ASTRA FILMFESTIVAL 2012
Int’l Documentary Film Festival Seoul 2012
FILM FESTIVAL 2012
DOKU FEST 2012
POOLBAR-FESTIVAL 2012
Sarajevo Film Festival 2012
HUMAN RIGHTS FILMFESTIVAL 2012
“One World” Menschenrechtsfilmfestival 2012
Hot Docs Toronto 2012
ONE WORLD INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2012
Trieste Film Festival 2012
CINE MIGRANTE FILMFESTIVAL 2012
One World International Human Doc FF Kyrgyzstan 2012
Der Neue Heimatfilm Freistadt (A) 2011
IDFA 2011 Amsterdam 2011
One World Human Rights Brussels 2011
Open Doek
Addis International Documentary Film Festival

QUOTES

»Ed Moschitzʼs film is a deep insight into the lives of Moldovan women who decided to illegaly cross the border and make some money to support their families back home.“ « – ZDENĔK BLAHA, DOKWEB

»The Film excellently illustrates the causes and effects of economic migration.“ « – ONE WORLD 2012 – FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

»By naming Mama Illegal the winning film of One World Brussels 2012, the jury would like to bring home the complexity of irregular migration to European decision-makers and the wider public, and give a voice to the real family stories hidden by the rhetoric." « – ONE WORLD 2012 – FESTIVAL JURY

»I had the privilege of watching Ed Moschitz's film Mama Illegal. I am deeply impressed, a heart-wrenching and deeply moving motion picture(...) From the bottom of my heart I congratulate Ed Moschitz for his work. He creates an unfiltered picture of mothers, children, fathers and families that were tore apart due to the unemployment in Moldavia. I wholeheartedly recommend watching this movie« – MAG. ERICH FENNINGER, GF VOLKSHILFE ÖSTERREICH

»How life as an Illegal alien, far away from home and family, looks like is brought to the public in Ed Moschitz new documentary. Three Moldavian women, working as domestic help in Austria and Italy are his heroins. Heroins, that are deeply moving.« – KURIER FILMTIPPS, SUSANNE LINTL

»Mama Illegal: a downpour of awards for Ed Moschitz's documentary. The movie was awarded within the main category of the International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival "One World" in Brussels and has been gathering awards since then.« – KULTURMONTAG

»It is a documentary that shines a light where the profiteers of illegally working women wont. Raia for example cares for the elderly parents of a judge, who is aware of her parents needs as well as Raia's resident status.« – KLEINE ZEITUNG

INFO

RUNNING TIME – 94 minutes
ORIG. LANGUAGES – German, Romanian, Moldovan
LOCATIONS – Austria
SUBTITLES – German, English
SCREENING FORMAT – HD Band, DCDM Master
SOUND FORMAT – Dolby Digital 5.1
ASPECT RATIO – 16:9
PICTURES/SEC – 24

CREW

WRITER & DIRECTOR
Ed Moschitz

CINEMATOGRAPHERS
Sandra Merseburger, Michael Svec, Michael Schindegger

SOUND RECORDISTS
Roberto Serra, Lenka Mikulova, Gailute Miksyte, Linda Bjork Steinthorsdottir, Pavel Cuzioc

MUSIC COMPOSER
Zdob Si Zdub

SOUNDDESIGN
Sabine Maier, Caroline Heflin

EDITORS
Alexandra Löwy

PRODUCTION MANAGERS
Susanne Kästle, Florian Michel

PRODUCERS
Arash T. Riahi, Michael Seeber

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Srđa Popović
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Aliaa Elmahdy
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and many more ...

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