original title:
Princesa
directed by:
cast:
Favour Osazuwa, Sister Regina Sanna, Julieth N.Edward, Eliana Vacca, Loveth Osazuwa
cinematography:
editing:
music:
producer:
production:
Caucaso Factory, with the support of Regione Autonoma della Sardegna, in collaboration with Roda Film
world sales:
country:
Italy
year:
2021
film run:
49'
format:
colour
status:
Ready (06/07/2021)
festivals & awards:
A silent film travels through cities and suburbs, sacred places and natural landscapes, portraying fetishes and ancient rites of a Mediterranean overlooking to the South. Princesa is a young Nigerian woman who arrived in Sardinia through human trafficking. This island holds a syncretism between the beliefs of primitive animism, the Christian cults, and the recent ones of the Nigerian evangelical church. A popular legend narrates the fight between the shark and the swordfish, an analogy to the protagonist's inner conflict, bound by an oath made before the journey between Africa and Europe.
Sister Regina works in the street unit driving through the night fires around which women prostitute themselves for the sex market, on the outskirts of a city. Elsewhere, Julieth, a pastor of a Nigerian church, holds a night Mass reciting prayers until reaching a spiritual trance. The protagonist's face mirrors an inner world full of fears, detachment from her land, and attempted redemption. Princesa has made a choice, but she is not free yet. Unexpectedly, on March 9, 2018, Eware IInd King and spiritual leader of Edo State, Nigeria, celebrates a ceremony and proclaims an edict in which he revokes the rituals and obliges traditional priests to stop practicing oaths that bind trafficked women through the curse of juju.