JOY
O.V. English, Pidgin English, German and Edo subtitle in Spanish and English
Sudabeh Mortezai listened to statements from a group of women trapped in prostitution networks in real life in order to construct from emotion and urgency a story full of truth that won the Europa Cinemas Label Award at Venice and the recently established Hearst Film Award for the Best Woman Director. Joy and Precious meet. One, about to pay off the debt to her madame. The other, recently arrived from Nigeria, rebels against what seems to be her fate.
Direction: Sudabeh Mortezai
Script: Sudabeh Mortezai
Cinematography: Klemens Hufnagl
Edit: Oliver Neumann
Sound: Atanas Tcholakov
Cast: Joy Anwulika Alphonsus, Precious Mariam Sanusi, Angela Ekeleme Pius
Production: Oliver Neuman, Sabine Moser
Production Company: FREIBEUTERFILM
www.freibeuter lm.com
Sudabeh Mortezai
She was born in Germany in 1968 and grew up in Teheran and Vienna. She studied Theatre and Film in Vienna. She worked as a film festival programmer and was director and curator of the art house cinema Filmcasino in Vienna. After doing a course on film, TV and digital media at the UCLA in 2003, she worked as assistant director and head of production, and directed several short films. She made her debut in feature films with the documentary Children of the Prophet (2006). Her first feature length fiction film was Macondo (2014) which she presented at the Berlinale, subsequently winning awards at various international festivals (it was part of the New Waves at the Seville Festival). Joy, her latest film, won the Europa Cinemas Label, and also the recently established Hearst Award for Best Female Director at Venice.