Underplayed Gems

The Writer From a Country Without Bookstores (2019)

The Writer From a Country Without Bookstores poster
Original title
El escritor de un país sin librerías
Directed by
Marc Serena
Genre
documentary film
Country
Equatorial Guinea, Spain
Runtime
1h 21m
Rating
6.4 of 10 from 5 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

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How it feels

A documentary follows writer Juan Tomas Avila Laurel, who fled Equatorial Guinea after protesting the dictatorship. It shows his life as a refugee in Spain and his return home to continue speaking out.

contemplativeseriouspersonalpoliticalreflectiveintimatelow-keyobservational

What happens

The Writer From a Country Without Bookstores is a documentary film that follows the life and work of Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, the most translated writer from Equatorial Guinea, who had to flee his country in 2011 after protesting against the dictatorship of Teodoro Obiang. The film shows his journey as a refugee in Spain, where he struggles to find recognition and support for his literature, and his return to his homeland, where he faces the risks and challenges of being a dissident voice. The film is directed by Marc Serena, a Spanish filmmaker and journalist, who co-wrote the script with Ávila Laurel himself. The a film was released in 2019 and received several awards and nominations at international film festivals. The film is a powerful and inspiring portrait of a writer who uses his words as a weapon against oppression and injustice. His style of writing depicts world history with a connection to Equatorial Guinea and other countries. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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