LoglineSynopsisDirector’s noteTrailerBio/Filmography Alexandra RozasPress

CONTENT

Miquel, a two years old Ethiopian boy, is adopted by a family from Barcelona.He rapidly adapts to his new life, while his past becomes a fuzzy memory, but there is one memory which cannot be forgotten: that of his two brothers. His adoptive mother will travel to Ethio-pia to locate them.

LOgLiNE

Title: Seleme Seleme Duration: 60 min. Genero: Documentary Format: HDV Script: Alexandra Rozas Director: Alexandra Rozas Music: Diego Pedragosa Editing and Camera: Alexandra Rozas Graphic Design Sara Puig (xsarax) Film company: ESCAC & ESCÁNDALO FILMS

Miquel is an Ethiopian child who lost his biological parents when he was very young. After that, Miquel and his two brothers went to live with their uncle Mola, who soon found himself unable to look after all three children. This is why he decided to give Miquel, the middle brother, up for adoption. Irene and Rafel, a family from Barcelo-na, adopt Miquel when he is two and a half years old. This is how he arrives to a country which is very strange for him, but to which he adapts very quickly. He starts school straight away, starts talking catalan, skateboarding and playing football. On the other hand, his previous life in Africa starts to become a blur. For example, he has started to forget the Ethiopian songs he so loved to sing when he arrived in Barcelona. His parents go to great efforts for Miquel to not forget his past, but more than a year has gone by, a lifetime for a four

SYNOPSiS

year old child, and he is starting to forget his origins. However, there is a memory which remains: that of his two brothers. He often talks about Besho, his older brother, and Zeto, his younger one. This concerns Irene, who wastes no time in returning to Ethiopia to track down her son’s past and try to locate his two brothers. She travels accompanied by her sister Alexandra, Miquel’s aunt and director of the documentary, who travels with her camera. The destination? Bona, Miquel’s birth town, located among Ethiopian moun-tains, where uncle Mola lives with Besho and Zeto. Irene explains her intention of venturing into a new adoption pro-cess and Mola confesses he would be overjoyed for the three brothers to be reunited. This will be the beginning of a great vital adventure, which reunites three siblings and which also leads the way to many questions.

To what extend will there be complica-tions for all three siblings to return to sharing a life together? Miquel no longer talks the same language as his siblings. A long time has gone by and when they are reunited they will have to get to know each other again. What sort of disruption will Miquel have to endure living with two siblings who be-long to his long lost past? Among other things, he will have to learn to share his space, his toys, he will no longer be an only child, and he will see how his parents spread their attention among the three children. And for Besho and Zeto, how will they adapt to a new life alongside their Catalo-nian brother?

We will discover the answers from a privileged filmed documentary, captured by the film-making aunt who, evidently, has direct unfiltered access to the lives of her nephews. She will witness the problems which the three children have to face; the same children who have already overcome many difficulties during their short lives, and who are now faced will the exciting challenge of becoming a family unit once again.

“...he will have to learn to share his space, his toys, he will no longer be

an only child...”

The story told by means of this docu-mentary took place within my family. It all started four years ago, when Irene, my sister, adopted Miquel. I spent lots of time with him and he often told me emo-tional stories of his past in Africa, which I found fascinating. When Irene decided to travel to Ethiopia to search for Miquel’s family, there was no doubt in my mind that I would accompany her. I needed to get to know the people and sceneries he so missed. And so I did, I travelled to Miquel’s past and captured the entire experience on my camera. My first intention was to gather images to show Miquel when he was older. But then, with the perspective of reuniting the brothers, I realised there was a story to be told. This was when the documentary “Seleme Seleme”, a trad-tional Ethiopian song, was born and soon became my degree project for the ESCAC

DiRECTOR’S NOTEfilm school and my very first documen-tary film. Miquel was well adapted to his new life in Barcelona and when he returned to Ethi-opia to find his brothers he realised he was a stranger in his birthplace, he no longer spoke the language and could not identify with the Ethiopian culture. I then wondered the extent of the disrup-tion he would suffer by including into his daily routine his brothers who belonged to his long lost past. This is why the documentary focuses on Miquel, on how he felt and it has been narrated from his point of view.

Once everyone was back in Barcelna, I started to show how the brothers grad-ually became acquainted once again. I would film them constantly: playing, eating, dancing, being bored... As I am their aunt and I am part of the family, I had fully access to their lives and they never bothered about my camera being present. More so, I worked without film assistance with a view to maintaining the natural and intimate moments. “Seleme Seleme” is only 60 minutes selected from a collection of 200 hours

of material I filmed over a 2 year period. And this is how, day by day, I docu-mented the entire process involving the creation of this new family. This film was not intended for analysing international adoptions, or generalising on this matter, I wanted to depict this specific story; a story which had to leave memories behind in order to advance, but in turn could be shared. A story filled with emotions.

“the documentary focuses on Miquel, on how he felt and it has been

narrated from his point of view”

Alexandra Rozas was born in Barcelona in 1987. Studied filmmaking at ESCAC (Higher School of Filmmaking and Audiovisuals of Catalonia), specialising in documen-tary films. Her first feature film is the documentary “Seleme Seleme” (2013), her degree

BiO/FiLMOgRAPHY ALEXANDRA ROZASproject for the film school, produced by Escándalo Films and for which she has written the script, directed, filmed and edited. During her career she has directed many other short films, both fiction and of a documentary nature. Some of her works include “Aura” or “Césped contra arena”.

TRAiLER “SELEME SELEME”

Link to the trailer Ready, steady... GO!

El País

“A story with the power to fill you with both tears and laughter...“

PRESS“How one became three - filming an incredible family reunion”Article published in El País English Edi-tion distributed with The International Herald Tribune (The global edition of The New York Times).

“Los hermanos no sé olvidan”Article written by Clara Blanchar publi-shed in El País.

“Historia de herma-nos adoptados”Interview with Alexandra Rozas (director Seleme Se-leme) and his sister Irene Domingo (the adoptive mother of the three siblings). They narrate the African adoption adventure.

Documental Seleme Selemealexrozas@hotmail.com