LA EMPRESA
In search of a story, a German film team finds itself in the Mexican village of El Alberto. The so-called Caminata Nocturna has made the small community famous. A tourist attraction based on the experiences of the villagers that re-enacts the illegal border crossing into the United States. What once started as a performance to make the local youth aware of the dangers of illegal migration has now become one of the village's main sources of income. Netflix visited. Italian, Japanese, Austrian and other productions, too. And now the Germans.
While around them the village unflinchingly goes about its business, claims rights to its own image and subject, supplying border patrols, dangers and reenactments in a lucrative capital barter, their stay develops into an unintended exploration of the possibilities and limitations of cinematic representation.
WHO
author & director ANDRÉ SIEGERS co-author & camera PHILIPP DIETTRICH sound recording, additional camera, interviews & translations BERNHARD HETZENAUER scientific advisor, interviews & translations MARIA GUADALUPE RIVERA GARAY editing SIMON QUACK (BFS) dramaturgy HERBERT SCHWARZE graphic design LASLO STRONG color grading & mastering TIM LIEBE sound design & sound mix ROMAN VEHLKEN & PAUL TIMMICH producers FRANK SCHEUFFELE, KARSTEN KRAUSE & JULIA CÖLLEN (FÜNFERFILM) production FÜNFERFILM coproductions UVO GRUPPE & MISCHIEF FILMS
funded by KURATORIUM JUNGER DEUTSCHER FILM, MOIN FILMFÖRDERUNG HAMBURG SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN, KULTURSTIFTUNG DES FREISTAATES SACHSEN, ÖSTERREICHISCHES FILMINSTITUT & DREHBUCHFORUM WIEN
Feature documentary
94 minutes | Germany 2023
starring ERNESTO OLIVA SANTIAGO, IVONNE ESTEFANÍA GARCÍA CASTILLO, EUGENIO GARCÍA CRUZ, MIGUEL GARCÍA, DHYAHY BARRERA GARCÍA, EMILIO BAUTISTA GARCÍA, JOSÉ IGNACIO OLIVA, MAXIMILIANO GARCÍA MARTINEZ, ANTONIO BARRERA SAN JUAN, FRANCISCA GARCÍA CRUZ,CONCHITA VICTORIA FLORES, SEBASTIÁN JERÓNIMO AGUSTIN, JESUS MARTIN, RENÉ MARTINEZ PEREZ, ESPERANZA REYES MARTIN, FERMIN OLIVA SANTIAGO, LETICIA GARCÍA FLORES
SCREENINGS
IFF Rotterdam 2023 (world premiere)
DOK.fest München 2023 (german premiere)
Kino Otok (slovenian premiere) 2023
Münchener Filmkunstwochen 2023
Nuremberg Int. Human Rights Film Festival 2023
Nordische Filmtage Lübeck 2023
Duisburger Filmwoche 2023 (special mention)
Kasseler Documentary Film and Video Festival 2023
Cinedays Linz 2024
Arsenal Berlin 2024
Achtung Berlin Filmfestival 2024
Dokfilmwoche Hamburg 2024
Österreichisches Filmmuseum 2024
Saratov Film Fest 2024
Filmwerkstatt Düsseldorf 2024