Imatra - Borders of Europe #3

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Imatra - Borders of Europe #3 (Imatra - Confini d’Europa #3)

Imatra - Borders of Europe #3 (Imatra - Confini d’Europa #3)

Imatra - Borders of Europe #3 (Imatra - Confini d’Europa #3)

original title:

Imatra - Confini d’Europa #3

directed by:

cast:

Paloma Calle Alberdi, Corso Salani

cinematography:

production:

country:

Italy

year:

2007

film run:

60'

format:

Digi Beta Pal - colour

aspect ratio:

4:3

status:

Ready (17/07/2007)

festivals & awards:

Imatra is a small Finnish town situated on the Russian border in southern Camelia. The town’s only particular appeal -the incredibly beautiful waterfalls- has been kept secret in order to produce a large enough quantity of electrical energy. A city without real town-planning and who has experienced an economic growth only thanks to the uninterrupted number of Russian tourists going there to buy odds and ends. Imatra almost seems like a mere "shock absorber" between the so-called wealth, tedious well-being typical of Scandinavian countries, and social inequalities and difficulties of the Soviet Union Imatra is also the place where Blanca has gone to find some peace and quiet, earning her living as a Spanish teacher in a local Polytechnic institute after experiencing a troubled love story. This is also where she will meet up again with her ex, since he joins her in Imatra under the pretext of filming an industrial documentary. The documentary focuses on the main companies in Imatra, which is known as the kingdom of wood and steel. From here we are shown the magnificent landscapes of snow and lakes , factory interiors, interviews with local Russian and Finnish politicians and unlikely slogans on austere towns that have been successful. The dialogue is both intimate and ironic and at times very moving.