Atlas Close-Ups
Scirocco or The Pilarica Adventure
Synopsis
Casablanca, spring 1961. Forty-three-year-old Edoardo signs up for a mission to rescue a mysterious wrecked ship on the shores of the Atlantic Sahara. The Pilarica disappeared from the map together with its crew in a dangerous area ruled by local tribes and the army; in a time when the former colonies are being invaded by treasure hunters, carpetbaggers and oil-seekers from all over the world, the locals have little trust in strangers. It is not only the promise of adventure that attracts Edoardo – he also wants to escape the pain of being left by his wife. His odyssey starts with crossing the Sahara until he reaches his destination, Cape Juby, a small Spanish fort town in the South. The ship is veiled in secrets and rumours of cursed cargo. When Edoardo comes to reveal its hidden truth, which leads to the ancient secrets of Africa, he has to face not only the difficulties of his mission but also his haunted past – and the fact that this journey will change his life forever.
Eclipse Films (Morocco)
Andrea Taschler
taschler@miragefilm.hu
Mirage Film (Hungary)
Andrea Taschler
Director’s statement
This story provides a concrete opportunity to name and make visible the movements that stir in us beneath the surface; those inner gestures of humanity that, invisible but present, move within the abyss of time and have consequences in the worldly existence of every one of us. It is a demonstration of the effects of the choices that all people, each on their own existential journey, often make without considering their impact. In this context, this Pilarica adventure becomes a pretext for reflecting on the obstacles that prevent us from providing real space for what is truly necessary for human life on this planet. His trajectory brings Edoardo closer to an existential vision that is in direct contact with the nature of the world, one that will reconnect him to the critical moments in his life. His reliving of those moments in a spatio-temporal labyrinth such as the Sahara makes us aware of the responsibility each of us has towards the world.
Biographies
Yassine Marco Marroccu graduated from studies in audio-visual arts at the University of Udine in 2003. He has since worked as a producer and director, directing commercials and short films, and has participated in various humanitarian projects in North Africa and in refugee camps in Southeast Europe. His short film Entropya (2013) won the grand prix at the Festival d’Alger du Cinéma Maghrébin. He completed his first feature film Catharsys, or The Afina Tales of the Lost World, which was selected for last year’s Marrakech International Film Festival, in 2018. A Moroccan-Italian-Serbian co-production, the film had its world premiere at Tallinn Black Nights, and won five awards at the National Film Festival of Morocco.
A graduate of the Academy of Theatre and Film Arts, in 2010 Andrea Taschler launched Mirage Film, a production company based in Budapest. A member of the European Film Academy, she is a graduate of EAVE 2012 and was selected for Producers on Move 2013. Alongside her strong focus on Hungarian filmmakers, Taschler works with emerging talents from beyond Hungary’s borders, employing a high-level artistic approach and a radical cinematic voice. Most recently, she produced Arpad Bogdan’s Genesis, which was selected for the Berlin International Film Festival in 2018; Balint Kenyeres’s Hier, a selection of the Locarno Festival and the Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM) in 2018; and Yassine Marco Marroccu’s Catharsys, or The Afina Tales of the Lost World, which had its premiere at Tallinn Black Nights in 2018 and was presented at FIFM last year.
€1 800 000
€1 170 000
CCM, Hungarian Film Institute
June, August 2021, Tarfaya, Tan-Tan, Laayoune, Agadir (Morocco), and Budapest (Hungary)
March 2022
World sales, distributor, TV broadcaster, private fund
