Preskit

July 2010
Logline
“We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and
friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.” -
ORSON WELLES

Short Synopsis
An Argentinean immigrant living illegally for nearly half his life in Luxembourg must
struggle daily for survival. Inspired partly by a quote from the late American auteur
Orson Welles, the film depicts a loner who must fight his way out of the illusion that
no one else exists around him.

Long Synopsis
Diego, a 26 year old Argentinian has been living illegally for the last 12 years
in Luxembourg. He is running a Hot Dog stand and it's working very well for
him. One of his best customers, Miguel, tells him that he is getting married
soon. He complains about all the paperwork that has to be prepared in order
to tie the knot with his fiancee.

The same day, Diego gets the news that his father is seriously ill and that the
family needs his support. Diego tells his mother that he will do his best to fly
over in order to take care of the family.

On the same evening, Diego gives all his savings to Tony, who will then get
him a fake passport. Tony also supplies Diego with weed. They both head to
a cafe in Esch-sur-Alzette, to watch a football game between Argentina and
Italy.

At the cafe, a drunk Italy supporter gets into a fight with Diego.
Consequently, Diego is arrested straight away. Tony is lucky enough to
escape the situation at the last moment.

At the police station, Diego gets questioned by Inspector Schimdt. That's

where he figures out that his dear customer, Miguel is in fact a junior police
officer.

In his cell, Diego meets up with Gilles, a French football supporter who has
had a fight during the France-UK game. Diego and Gilles start to get to know
each other and they figure out that they have a common enemy: The British.

The next morning, Diego gets told that he has got twenty-four hours before
being deported to his homeland, Argentina. He has no choice but to accept
the prosecutor's decision…
Director's Note

'Mano De Dios' meaning 'God's Hand' is a story about friendship, trust and
identity. Diego, the main character, is based on a friend of mine, Samir, a
Palestinian, who has lived illegally for twelve years in the UK. Since the age of
14, Samir had worked himself up from one job to another, learning English
on his own and integrating himself into British society. One day, he got into
a fight at a pub and 48 hours later, he was deported to a refugee camp in
Jordan.

I decided to use the title 'Mano De Dios' because it has so many meanings.
One of them is obviously, the famous goal shot by Diego Maradona against
the British in 1986. It was a symbol of defeating the British for the first time
after the Falklands War. In my story, Diego's fate is also in God's Hand
because he doesn't know what will happen to him once he is back in his
homeland. He has no choice but to accept this fate. On the other hand, it
could be a good start for him as he has been missing his entire family and
living illegally for such a long time.

'Mano De Dios' is a universal story set in Luxembourg, a country where half

of the population is of foreign origin. Above all, I want to show that, even if
you're fully integrated, a small mistake could change your life forever
because you don't own the right passport.

Being born in Egypt and having spent most of my life in Dubai & Europe, I
feel extremely lucky. But that's my story. There are so many other stories
where people don't have the luck nor the opportunity to have a stable life
far from their homeland. Diego's story is only one of thousands but no one
actually cares about the issue itself.

I have decided to use an Argentian song by Mercedes Sosa called 'Pajaro de

Rodillas', which means 'Bird's Knees'. The first time I heard this song, I
couldn't get it out of my head as you could feel the people's suffering in her
lyrics. The song talks about a bird that can't fly away…
I had in mind to shoot the entire film handheld in order to get a much closer
feeling towards the characters. But I've decided to shoot it in a more
conventional way with steady and tracking shots. Each shot has been
storyboarded and I went through them together with Jeff Kieffer, my director
of photography. Jeff knew since the beginning what colours and framing I
wanted for most shots. We worked very well together on 'La Fameuse
Route…' and I hope to have him as my director of photography for my
upcoming projects.
Production Notes

'Mano De Dios' was shot on a no-budget basis but under professional

conditions. I was lucky enough to have a dedicated and talented professional
crew who believed in my idea and my screenplay. We shot the film in 4 days
over a 3-week period in April 2010.

Using the latest technology, we were able to work quickly and efficiently
while keeping the quality as high as possible. It was a very big challenge for
myself to direct a drama using my main actor Godié as it's his very first
dramatic role. But I trusted him and took the risk.

I took the initiative to start the project in early 2010 because of the
experience gained on 'La Fameuse Route…'. That experience had given me
the confidence to direct another film using the same actors and crew. And
using Luxembourg as a location has always been on my mind even if the
screenplay was originally set in London.

During pre-production, I used my skills as a producer to put together a

crew, equipment and shooting permissions. I gained these skills during my
studies in the UK where I produced a dozen of student films. That's how we
ended up that the head of police kindly renting us police costumes and cars.
I have also asked location managers to find the right locations, such as the
old police station in Esch and Lux-Airport. The actors, Sascha Ley and Nilton
Martins agreed to play in my film for free because they liked the screenplay
and they wanted to be part of this film.

Shooting the film wasn't as smooth as it could have been. I wrote a scene
near the end of the film where Diego gets his hair cut as a sign of a new
beginning. A couple of days before wrapping the shoot, I had a fight with
Diego. As a result, he has shaven his beard in front of me. I had no choice
but to change the haircutting scene into another one where he shaves.
Luckily enough, we shot the film in sequence…
Characters

Diego Salles
Diego is a 26-year old Argentinian. He has been living illegally for the last
12 years in Luxembourg working himself up from one job to another. He is
now able to run his own business, a Hot Dog stand.

Diego tries to enjoy life as much as he can but everything has its limits. His
customers like him, so do his friends. At the same time, Diego feels lonely
and different from the people around him even if he has integrated himself
in society by a way or another.

In order to get a fake passport, Diego has been saving for some time. In the
meantime, Diego's biggest passion is football and he is very attached to his
country even if he is not able to visit it.

Miguel Rodrigues
Miguel has just graduated from police school. He is Luxembourgish but of
Portuguese parents. Miguel decided to become a police officer because it's a
well-paid and stable job. His life is well-planned out. In a few weeks, he will
marry his girlfriend, Sandra, who he met a couple of weeks before.

Tony Mmbemba
Tony is Diego's Congolese friend. He is lucky enough to have Belgian papers
because he was married to a Belgian woman. He drives taxis for a living but
on the side he deals with illegal drugs and fake papers.

Inspecteur Isabelle Schmidt

Inspecteur Schmidt is the head of the police station in Esch-sur-Alzette. She
has been promoted Inspector a year ago and is very tough against drug-
related crimes.

Gilles Framboisier
Gilles is a 40-year old French football fan. He lives on his own and spends
his unemployment money on drinking.
Director's Biography
Adolf El Assal
Born into an Egyptian family in Alexandria, Egypt in 1981, Adolf El Assal was
brought up in Dubai, London and Luxembourg where he has spent most of
his life. Being the oldest of six children, his passion for filmmaking started at
a young age. He used to play around with his father's VHS camera and
recreate scenes from famous American sitcoms using his siblings as actors.

In 2002, he decided to continue his studies in the United Kingdom where he

graduated with a Masters in Filmmaking from Kingston University. While
studying, he had the opportunity to gain experience at all levels in the film
industry. In 2005, he decided to set up Bigtime Entertainments with a friend,
a film production company focusing on producing low-budget film projects.
The company has produced over 20 projects going from music videos,
corporate work up to short and feature films.

2006 was a crucial year in Adolf's career as a filmmaker. He had the

opportunity to be invited at the Berlinale Talentcampus as well as a youth
jury member at the Cannes Film Festival. During that same year, he worked
as an editor for MBC Dubai and shot his first no-budget feature 'Divizionz'
with Donald Mugisha and James Tayler in Uganda.

'Divizionz' had its world premiere at the 2008 Berlinale and was picked up by
Wide Management. Since then, the film has been officially selected at over 60
festivals around the world going from Karlovy Vary, Ghent, Istanbul, Los
Angeles, London, Amiens, Durban up to Goteborg. The film also won
numerous awards including three African Movie Academy Awards (Best Edit,
Best Music, Best First Film)

A year later, he shot his second no-budget film 'Reste Bien, Mec!' in
Luxembourg. The film had its premiere at Luxembourg's biggest cinema and
was theatrically released for 6 weeks throughout the country.

Six months later, he finally shoots his first 'professional' short film 'La
Fameuse Route…', produced by Tarantula Luxembourg and supported by
Filmfund Luxembourg. The film featured the same actors as in his previous
film. It is now in post-production with a possible release in autumn 2010. In
the meantime, 'Mano De Dios' is also in post-production before focusing on
his first 'real' feature 'Learning English'.

Short Biography
Born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1981, El Assal grew up in Dubai, London and
Luxembourg, settling down in the latter city where he set up his production
company, Bigtime Entertainments. After making over 60 music videos and mini-
documentaries, El Assal shot two "no-budget" features and utilized his guerilla
filmmaking skills to write and direct the short "Mano de Dios."
Filmography

Feature Films
2008, Divizionz (no-budget feature co-directed with Donald Mugisha &
James Tayler) (official selection Berlinale 2008 and over 60 festival selections
plus numerous prizes including 3 prizes at Kuala Lumpur Film Festival 2008
(Best Director, Best Music, Best African Film)

2009, Reste Bien, Mec! (no-budget feature comedy set in Luxembourg. The
film was screened for 6 weeks at local cinemas)

2012, Learning English (based on the novel by acclaimed Lebanese writer

Rachid Al-Daif)

2013, Peace Kebab

Short Films (selection)

2005, Lost In Mankind
2007, Bet Zaitoun
2007, Sheep
2010, La Fameuse Route… (supported by Luxembourg Filmfund)
2010, Mano De Dios

Over 60 music videos, a dozen of corporate projects and numerous

television reports around the world for Current.TV, Tiva.TV & Luxe.TV

(complete filmography available on request and on www.adolfelassal.com)

Credits

Crew
Written & Directed by: Adolf El Assal
Director of Photography: Jeff Kieffer
Production Designer: Aude Bertrand
Sound: Christophe Hubert
1st Assistant Director: Finnur Dor Thorardson
2nd Assistant Director: Laurent Prim
Production Manager: Ginger Montreal
Script Supervisor: Beatrix Schwinden
Camera Assistants: Tom Zeimet
Nadia Masri
Steadicam: Raoul Schmitz
Production Assistant: Tanguy Dossu
Gilda Cavazza
Yves Vaucher
Composer: Nikkel K
Set Photographers: Vincent Habay
Francesca Gilibert
Editor: Adolf El Assal

Actors
Diego Godié
Miguel Nilton Martins
Tony Nyttman
Inspecteur Schmidt Sascha Ley
Gilles Gilles Soeder
Erminio Cico
Police Officer 1 Claire Thill
Police Officer 2 Yannick Joly
Police Officer 3 Raoul Schmitz
Police Officer 4 Finnur Dor Thorardson
Tom Creuse Last' Ar
Prisoner 1 Taipan
Prisoner 2 Mad Beast
Bradley Tanguy Dossu
Technical Details
Running Time: 15' (with credits)
Year: 2010
Genre: Drama
Format: HD
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (full frame)
Languages: French, Spanish, Luxembourgish
Subtitles: English

Contact
Independent Spirit Productions S.A.
Adolf El Assal
28a Rue des Ecoles
4551 Niedercorn,
Luxembourg
+352 621 397 947
adstyle@gmail.com
www.adolfelassal.com