ANDREA DEAGLIO IS AWARDED THE MERCURIUS PRIZE FOR THE FILM “A MILLION GRAINS OF SAND”

ANDREA DEAGLIO IS AWARDED THE MERCURIUS PRIZE FOR THE FILM “A MILLION GRAINS OF SAND”

18 OCTOBER 2024 8.00 p.m. CEST – CINEMA BELTRADE MILANO

On the occasion of the first screening of the film  director Andrea Deaglio and psychotherapist Eva Pattis Zoja will receive the award from Chiara Tozzi, artistic director of the Mercurius Prize

The documentary describes the therapy helping Ukrainian, Yazidi and Chinese children to overcome the traumas of war experience, of natural disaster or of violence.

A special screening at Cinema Beltrade in Milan (Friday 18 October, 8pm) will open the tour of the documentary film A Million Grains of Sand, featuring psychotherapist Eva Pattis Zoja and the stories of Ukrainian, Yazidi and Chinese children. 

Directed by Andrea Deaglio, the film focuses on the possibilities offered by Expressive Sandwork, a non-verbal therapy that allows to work out psychic trauma and to express what pain has made unspeakable. It is precisely for the way these experiences are portrayed that the director will receive at the Cinema Beltrade the Mercurius Prize, awarded by an international committee of psychoanalysts.

The award will be presented to Deaglio by psychoanalyst Chiara Tozzi, artistic director of the Mercurius Prize, in a meeting in which the director will be joined by the protagonist Eva Pattis Zoja and Dr. Enrico Ferrari, vice-president of CIPA – Italian Centre for Analytical Psychology.

The war in Ukraine, the persecution of the Yazidis by Isis and the devastating earthquake in

China are just some of the contexts in which Expressive Sandwork is applied. This approach is practiced in Italy, as well as in many other countries around the world, with children who have lost loved ones due to natural disasters, or with special educational needs or post-traumatic stress disorder. In parallel, Deaglio’s documentary explores the roots of Eva Pattis Zoja, showing the connections between the work that made her an international reference and the personal history of her family during the Second World War.

The 64-minute long documentary-film is written by Andrea Deaglio and Stefano Zoja, produced by Matteo Tortone and Enrico Giovannone for Malfé Film, with contributions from IDM Film Commission Südtirol, the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, Film Commission Torino Piemonte, International Association for Analytical Psychology, International Association for Expressive Sandwork, Moretti & Vitali publishing house, Südtiroler Bildungszentrum.

EVA PATTIS ZOJA (protagonist) and the Expressive Sandwork

A Jungian psychoanalyst, Eva Pattis Zoja also trained as a children’s analyst at the Jung Institute in Zurich and as a Sandplay therapist (ISST/AISPT) in Italy. She founded the EXPRESSIVE SANDWORK method, based on C.G. Jung’s Analytical Psychology and the Sandplay Therapy developed by Jungian therapist Dora Kalff, inspired in turn by the London paediatrician Margaret Lowenfeld. The approach allows forms of intervention using images and sand with children who are victims of violence and in situations where psychotherapy is not feasible. EXPRESSIVE SANDWORK is applied in patients of developmental age in many countries, including Ukraine, Germany, Palestine, China, Romania, Colombia, Malaysia, South Africa, Argentina, as well as in Italy.

Eva Pattis Zoja has worked and taught in several countries. Her publications include the book Curare con la sabbia, una proposta terapeutica in situazioni di violenza e abbandono, published by Moretti & Vitali.

ANDREA DEAGLIO (director)

Andrea Deaglio has directed numerous films for cinema and television, including Nera – non è la terra promessa (2007) winner of the Anello Debole Award; Il futuro del mondo passa da qui – City Veins (2010) winner of the Joris Ivens Award for Best International First Feature at Cinéma du Reel and the Docucity Award; Storie di uomini e lupi (2015, co-directed with Alessandro Abba Legnazzi), winner of the Best Italian Film award at Cervino Cine Mountain; Show all this to the world (2015) selected in various international festivals; I cinque punti (2023), winner of the Special Mention at the Festival Liberazioni.

His website is www.andreadeaglio.it

Press Materials: https://bit.ly/1MGS 

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