Sing, Freetown

17th september 2022

3:30 PM

International Contest

Breve Sinossi:

The protagonist of this documentary film is Sierra Leone’s best-known investigative journalist, Sorious Samura. For the past 25 years, Sorious has covered the thorniest issues plaguing his country, such as civil war, hunger, and AIDS. However, after two decades spent telling negative stories about Africa, Sorious is eager to change the narrative. Together with his best friend, the country’s most famous playwright, Charlie Haffner, he embarks on a journey to Sierra Leone to create a national play with the intent of restoring pride to a nation with a rich and surprising history that is now known mostly for conflict, poverty, and corruption. Nothing goes as planned. Over the course of the film, the cultures of the two friends collide and tensions flare as Sierra Leone itself teeters on the brink of civil unrest. For both, the work itself becomes the only issue they can cling to in order to save themselves and lift the nation’s pride.

TRAILER

Directed by: Clive Patterson
Production: Insight TWI: The World Investigates, Clive Patterson
Produttore: Clive Patterson
Editing: Mark Keady, Stefan Ronowicz, Graeme Holmes
Cinematography: Clive Patterson
Running time: 94
Country: USA, UK
Year: 2021
Contacts: selina@insighttwi.com

Director’s statement:

This film is the culmination of 12 years of working in Africa alongside Sorious. I had the privilege of discovering the continent in his company. With this film, our goal was to offer international audiences a new vision of their country. I wanted to create a visual and narrative experience that would allow audiences to discover the richness of Sierra Leone in the same way I had discovered it, in the company of two incredible travelling companions who were able to illuminate with passion and eloquence both the culture and beauty of the nation as well as the inherent tensions and difficulties.