RTL Today Radio’s Melissa Dalton interviewed producer Donato Rotunno about the new film Harka, which will premiere in Luxembourg on January 10th.

Donato Rotunno is a multi-faceted filmmaker and producer who grew up in Luxembourg, co-founding the production house Tarantula in 1995.

Tarantula has since produced around forty feature films that have been shown at festivals across the world; among its most successful films, “Two of Us” by Filippo Meneghetti was nominated for the Best International Feature Film award at the 2021 Academy Awards.

Tarantula’s latest co-production is Harka, following the life of a young Tunisian, Ali, who is forced to take care of his younger sisters after the death of his father.

Harka is an Arabic word which means to burn, but is also Tunisian slang for migrants illegally crossing the Mediterranean by boat. The film deals with the aftermath of Tunisian Revolution of 2010-11, which sparked the wider Arab Spring, a subject that has attracted attention from filmmakers interested in migration.

Harka, in contrast, focuses on those who stayed behind. The film is directed by Lotfy Nathan and features Adam Bessa as Ali, a role which earned him the Best Actor award in the Un Certain Regard category at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 2022.

Harka will premiere at Cine Utopia on January 10th before being released in cinemas the following day. You can buy tickets for the premiere here, and listen to the full interview on RTL Play here.