The Successor

  • 8.4 10
  • 2016
  • 52min
The Successor
  • Original Title: Il successore

The Successor follows a former manufacturer of landmines in Bosnia and Herzegovina on a journey where he will have the opportunity to come to terms with himself and face the ghosts of his past.

The Successor
Awards
AWARDS: 33 Torino Film Festival – Cipputi Award / Roberto Gavioli Award – Best Film / Ischia Film Festival – Jury special mention / Visioni Italiane 22 – Special prize Visioni Doc / Visioni Italiane 22 – Jury special mention
OFFICIAL SELECTION: IDFA – Competition for Mid-Lenght Documentary / Hot Docs – Pursuit of Happiness / Slamdance Film Festival – Beyond feature / Göteborg Film Festival – Italy in focus / Cinema Vérité, Iran Documentary Film Festival – Competition / 33 Torino Film Festival – TFF Doc./Italiana.Doc / Visioni Italiane 22 – Visioni Doc / 34 Bellaria Film Festival –  Competition ‘Italia DOC’ / Euganea Film Festival  – Competition / Ischia Film Festival – Location Negata / ‘Fuori Raccordo’ Rome Documentary FF – Competition / Video festival Imperia – Documentari professionisti / Festival del Cinema Europeo di Lecce –  Cinema e Realtà / Working Title Film Festival –  Panorama / Le Voci dell’Inchiesta –  Panorama / Lecce Film Festival – Panorama / Front Doc Film Festival – Competition / Genova Film Festival – Competition / On the Road Film Festival – Competition

The Successor, breaking the silence of the land mines of a war

The facades of the residential buildings in Sarajevo dotted with the wounds of canons, all of this shown as in a beautifully composed photograph. The above is the description of one of the frames of this documentary. It is at the same time the ambivalent image of war and art, the two axes that support the approach made by director Mattia Epifani when filming the trip of Vito Alfieri Fontana, the inheritor of Tecnovar, a factory of land mines, to Bosnia-Herzegovina, the only place where he can purge the guilt that has gradually taken over him.

After taking charge of the factory that his father founded, time has made a dent in the conscience of Vito, who feels he is somehow responsible for thousands of lives condemned by the industrial compound he inherited. One of those lives is that of Nijaz Nemic, a Paralympic skier who lost his leg when he stepped on one of the thousands of land mines that still remain under the ground in a mortal waiting. The encounter of Vito and Nijaz is a cathartic face-to-face, an evidence of humanity and forgiveness between two successors of a fatal war.

Production Companies

Fluid Produzioni srl


Curated Award-Winning Docs From Around The Globe

Best Documentary Films

WATCH NOW