WAKE UP ON MARS
A first feature documentary film by Dea Gjinovci
75 min, CH, FR, 2020
A 10-year-old Roma boy living in Sweden attempts to come to terms with the mysterious Resignation syndrome that has put his two sisters in a coma. The tight-knit family is trying to rebuild a normal life far from their native Kosovo where they were victims of persecution. While their entire future hangs in the balance of a pending asylum request, the little boy dreams of building a spaceship to leave it all behind.
Festivals
New York, Tribeca Film Festival, April, 2020
Nyon, Visions du réel, National Competition, April, 2020
Italy, Biografilm Festival, June, 2020
– Special Mention “Best New Talent”
Montenegro, Underhill Fest, June, 2020
China, Hainan International Film Festival, December, 2020
– Nominated for the prize “Best Documentary Feature”
Solothurn, Journées de Soleure, January 2021
– Nominated for thé prize “Prix de de Soleure” and “Prix Opéra Prima”
Canada, Human Rights Watch, February, 2021
Copenhaguen, CPHDOX Copenhaguen International Documentary Film Festival, April-May, 2021
France, FIPADOC Festival International Documentaire, 2021 (postponed)
Kosovo, DOKUFEST, International Documentary and Short Film Festival, August, 2021
Prizes (development)
Prix Perspectives d’un Doc, Visions du Réel 2018
Sundance Documentary Fund, 2018
Impact Day Award FIFDH 2019
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Dea Gjinovci
Dea Gjinovci has been filming and writing documentaries following her studies between Geneva, London and Paris. In parallel, she has always worked, either on film projects, or as a freelance journalist for Swiss media (Le Temps) or Anglo-Saxon (AJ +). For them, she directed «This is the sound of climate change» during the protests of COP21 in Paris. In early 2017, she coordinated a crowdfunding campaign for the documentary Mr Gay Syria, a campaign relayed by media such as Vanity Fair, the Guardian and The Economist. In 2017, she directed her first film, «Sans le Kosovo». This short documentary was awarded Best National Film Award at the 2017 edition of the Dokufest Festival, and has been presented at festivals in Palermo, Paris, Vienna and Visions du Réel in Nyon.
Filmography
2019 Wake up on Mars
2017 Sans le Kosovo
Articles
Review: Wake Up on Mars – Cineuropa
“Wake Up on Mars”: Film Review Tribeca Film festival 2020 – The Hollywood Reporter
Visions/Tribeca review: Wake Up On Mars – Business Doc Europe
Interview to Dea Gjinovci • Director of Wake Up On Mars – Cineuropa
Tribeca 2020 Women Directors: Meet Dea Gjinovci – “Wake Up on Mars” – Women and Hollywood
’Wake Up On Mars’ Director Dea Gjinovci on Taking Risks – Variety
In coproduction with
Mélisande Films (FR), Dea Gjinovci (CH), RTS (CH)
With the support of
l’Office Fédéral de la Culture (OFC)
Cinéforom et la Loterie Romande
Fonds de Production Télévisuelle
Pour-cent Culturel MIGROS
Fondation UBS pour la Culture
Le Centre National du Cinéma et de l’image animée
La PROCIREP, Sociétés des Producteurs
L’ANGOA
Sundance Documentary Fund
DOHA Film Institute
Distribution
International sales: Cat&Docs