Meet Maja Costa
Maja Costa is as a freelance, multilingual screenwriter/director based in Berlin, Germany. After studying Cello at the Milan Conservatory and getting a master’s degree in Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Egyptology, she studied Screenwriting at the dffb in Berlin and is, as a scholarship holder from SKY Italia, an alumna of the International Showrunner Incubator Serial Eyes. As a screenwriter, she is currently co-developing original series for different production companies and broadcasters and adapting the novel “E.E.” by Nobel Prize laureate Olga Tocarkzuk into a feature-length film. Her original short series Réveil won 2021 the Best Pitch Prize at the Marseille Web Festival.
FILM IN COMPETITION FESTIVAL DU FILM MERVEILLEUX 2024 : MANGATA
Year:2024
Runtime:15’38
Country: Germany
Synopsis:As a child, little Alya is the only survivor of a tragic Mediterranean crossing from Africa to Europe. Many years later, as an astronaut of an important lunar mission, Alya loses communication with her base. She is confronted with her past trauma, and now Mångata – “the road to the moon”, which already saved her life once, will help her again.
Credits: Maja CostaDirector Antonio PadovaniProducer Mario NuzzoProducer Stefany FruzzettiKey Cast”Alya Adult” Ayo AlobaKey Cast”Rudo” Afnan EhoranKey Cast”Alya Child” Renato & Ronaldo GamaOriginal Score
Tropical Diaspora RecordsOriginal Score Maja CostaWriter Carola Rodríguez SanchezDirector of Photography
Director Statement
It is difficult to look away from the moon shining in the starry sky, but looking away is what we do as we turn toward the tragic reality of immigration to Europe. According to United Nations data, in the last seven years, more than 25.000 men, women, and children have died or gone missing in the Central Mediterranean. The “Never again” sworn in front of the aligned coffins of the 368 people who lost their lives near Lampedusa on October 3, 2013, has remained only a declaration of intent.
We look at the moon, but we turn away when it comes to looking at the tragedy of those who cross the Mediterranean in search of a better life. Their basic human right to a home often goes unfulfilled and their search for a place to “feel at home” becomes an existential struggle. This is not just an African problem, or a problem of southern European countries; it is the responsibility of all of Europe.
Alya comes from Africa and arrives in Europe following a dream: first a dream of her father’s and then a dream of her own. Mångata, “the road to the moon,” represents the long way to get there. By fixing the device on the moon—and, metaphorically speaking, her soul—Alya takes a step toward the realization of her dream. While communication with the base is interrupted, Alya has an encounter that helps her overcome her past trauma and make sense of her loss. Planet Earth is both Alya’s home and the starting point of Mångata, not just for her, but for all of mankind—of which Alya, with her aspiration and resilience, is a bright symbol.