“Artist-turned-filmmaker Noaz Deshe makes a staggering debut…
stylistically reckless in the best possible way”
— Variety
“Gripping…the director infuses the film with an energy that’s
part bad fever dream, part harsh reality.”
— The Hollywood Reporter
“A total shock”
— Indiewire
“Timeless, haunting, horrific, beautiful”
— Francis Ford Coppola
FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER RYAN GOSLING COMES
THE NEXT INDIEPIX CLASSICS RELEASE, A POWERFUL
SUNDANCE GRAND JURY NOMINEE FOLLOWING THE STORY
OF AN ALBINO BOY ON THE RUN FROM THE
TANZANIAN BODY PART TRADE
WHITE SHADOW
Street Date: April 20, 2021
DVD: $16.95
One Part Drama, One Part Surreal Cinema Verité, This Winner of the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Best Debut at the Venice Film Festival and an Official Selection at
More Than Three Dozen International Festivals Will Be Available and
Specially-Priced for All World Cinema Lovers
SYNOPSIS
WHITE SHADOW, the filmmaking debut of Israeli artist-turned-filmmaker Noaz Deshe and executive produced by Ryan Gosling, is the story of Alias (impressively played by newcomer Hamisi Bazili), a young albino boy on the run. A Sundance Grand Jury nominee and winner of the Best Debut at the Venice Film Festival, this powerful drama is the next installment in the INDIEPIX CLASSICS line, the distributor’s exclusive new imprint shining a light on films that celebrate the very best of their highly-curated catalog.
There is a saying in East Africa, “Albinos don’t die, they just disappear” and hundreds of documented killings and attacks have occurred since 2007. Witch doctors in Tanzania offer thousands of dollars for albino body parts, believed to bring good fortune, prosperity and the ability to cure any illness. As a result, albinos, including children, have been murdered by gangs of men who hack off arms, legs or genitals.
After witnessing his father’s murder, Alias’ mother sends him away to find refuge in the city and the young albino boy is brought to the care of his uncle, Kosmos, a truck driver struggling with a few small businesses. In the city, Alias is a quick learner, selling sunglasses, DVDs and mobile phones. He is fond of his uncle’s daughter, Antoinette, although his uncle disapproves. Unfortunately for Alias, however, the city becomes no different than the bush and wherever he travels the same chilling rules of survival apply.
After director Deshe accepted the Luigi De Laurentiis Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2013, WHITE SHADOW would go on to capture numerous awards and universal acclaim in 2014, including a Grand Jury Prize nomination at Sundance, the Grand Prix and Audience Award at the T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival in Poland; the New Director’s Prize at the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Cinevision Award at Munich, as well as Best Feature at the UK’s East End Film Festival and Best Director at South Africa’s Durban International Film.
Says Deshe, “While preparing to teach in Dar Es Salaam, I learned about the hunting of albinos in East Africa. I decided a film must be made: a real chronicle of a young person with a price on his head, a person who has to urgently become aware of his own condition against events that can end his life.” Of Deshe’s electrifying debut, executive producer Gosling said the film is a “transporting work of truly visceral filmmaking” and would go on to earn universal international praise. Called “ambitious” by Paste Magazine and “bruisingly told…undeniably effective” by Indiewire’s Playlist, WHITE SHADOW is a haunting film audiences won’t soon forget.
PROGRAM INFORMATION
Type: DVD
Running Time: 117 minutes
Genre: World Cinema/Drama
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Audio: 5.1 Dolby
Language: Swahili with English Subtitles
