Patrick Tombola

Patrick Tombola (1981, Italy/Australia) studied law and political economy before turning to filmmaking and photography in 2008. He lived most of his life between Italy, Australia, the Middle East and Latin America. His last documentary ‘Ukraine: Life under Russia’s attack’ was shot, directed and produced alongside colleague Yassir ‘Mani’ Benchelah in a co-production of Channel 4 Dispatches (UK) and PBS Frontline (USA). The film featured Oscar winning Cate Blanchett as a narrator. The two filmmakers spent three months providing a dramatic and intimate look inside the Russian assault on Kharkiv, told by the people living through it: the displaced families trying to survive underground, the civilians caught in the fight, and the first responders risking their lives to protect them. Tombola also collaborated on the award-winning short documentary ‘Unforgivable’, the story of a ruthless gang hitman in El Salvador inside an evangelical Salvadoran prison. The documentary won IDFA, HotDocs and several other awards. Over the years Tombola has worked for the New York Times, National Geographic films, Channel 4, Time Magazine and many more. For the previous decade Tombola worked in both as a photojournalist and filmmaker during the conflict in Libya, Syria, Gaza along with revolutions in Egypt and Turkey. He documented the deadly narco-insurgency in Mexico and Central America that ultimately led to mass organised migration to the USA border. When he’s not traveling for work Tombola lives in Venice, Italy where he finds inner peace and silence in its vast lagoon and sometimes quiet canals.