Asmarina

Voices and images of a postcolonial heritage

Directed by Alan Maglio and Medhin Paolos (2015)

Asmarina is a documentary film about the Habesha (Eritrean and Ethiopian) community in Milan that bridges the present life of this community to the historical legacies of Italian colonialism in the Horn of Africa.

The film makers’ approach to the Habesha life is not as outsiders but rather, as involved and invested members of this community.

The research and the filming of Asmarina took over eighteen months and directly engaged people and their accounts while connecting those stories to printed and audiovisual material found in institutional archives.

Asmarina is thus the result of a meticulous collective research project that tells a more complete story of the colonial relationship between Italy and Eritrea, bringing to light the postcoloniality of Habesha diaspora in Italy that has been little scrutinized up to now: the everyday life stories of those who have lived in the city for years, those who were born in Italy and the day-to-day experiences of the refugees who have just arrived.

The Habesha community has been present in Italy for at over half a century and has been actively integrated into the social and cultural life of Italy.

The goal of the film is to bring attention to the collective memories of this community, piecing together peoples’ stories: their immigrant and transnational experiences, their memories of colonialism, their multiple and intersectional identities, as well as their hopes and dreams.

Contacts

asmarinaproject@gmail.com | facebook.com/asmarinaproject | Twitter@AsmarinaProject