Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel

A film by MARC SERENA
with JUAN TOMÁS ÁVILA LAUREL

Writer Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel had to flee Equatorial Guinea in 2011, after going on a hunger strike against Teodoro Obiang’s dictatorship, the longest lasting in the world. Now he resides as a refugee in Spain, the former colonial power, but longs the country where he lived for 40 years. Until he decides to take a step forward.

Feature documentary. 82 minutes. Spanish/Annobonese Creole. 2019.

Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel

Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel (1966) is Equatorial Guinea’s most translated writer. He is from Annobón, a tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean, although he has been living most of his life in the capital, Malabo. He writes in Spanish and has published twenty titles in different genres.

He is mostly known for his novel By Night the Mountain Burns, shortlisted at the UK 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. It was the second Equatorial Guinea book ever translated in English. He has also written The load (1999), Airplane of the Rich, Thief of Pigs (2008) and Panga Rilene (2016). His latest novel published is English is The Gurugu Pledge (2017).

He was worked as a nurse, editor and candy street vendor. He actually lives in exile in Spain, after a hunger strike against the regime of Teodoro Obiang. His work is studied by scholars around the world.

This 2021, his novel By Night the Mountain Burns will became a play called “Annobón” to be premiered in Malabo, Bata (Equatorial Guinea) and Grec Festival Barcelona (Spain).

The team

Marc Serena (1983) codirected the award-winning documentary Tchindas (2015), broadcasted at PBS (US) and nominated by the Africa Film Academy at the AMAA Awards (Nigeria). He has written three books and has been translated into Chinese and Korean. This 2020, Alexandria Mediterranean Film Festival (Egypt) distinguished his career with an award.

With music from: Concha Buika , Pau de Nut,
Negro Bey, Jamin and Charli Weezy

Editor:
Emanuele Tiziani

DoP:
Josep Gutiérrez

Animation and graphic identity:
Taller Estampa

Sound:
Verònica Font

Colour postproduction:
Artic

Executive production:
Marc Serena and Toni Espinosa

The project has been developed at Dox in Vitro (Slovakia), Frontlab (Italy) 2018, Dig Awards (Italy), Fest.pt (Portugal) and Bolivialab (Bolivia) 2019.