After the David di Donatello won in 2018 with the short film “Bismillah” by director Alessandro Grande and in 2020 with “Inverno” by Giulio Mastromauro, but also the awards obtained by “L’afide e la ant” with Giuseppe Fiorello as the protagonist by Mario Vitale, always following the common thread of social commitment, comes a new cinematographic work by Indaco Film, a production house headed by Luca Marino.
This is “The Void”, a feature film by the Catanzaro director Giovanni Carpanzanoamong other things a teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts of Catanzaro, who debuts on the big screen with a autobiographical storythanks to the support of the Calabria Film Commission Foundation and the Ministry of Culture and Lazio Region – Audiovisual Fund, the collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of Catanzaro and Ciakalabria and the support of Planet Multimedia.
«During a lesson, explaining to my students how cinema was more emotional than theatre, through the example of a thwarted homosexual love story I showed them how important it was to start from an intimate story, experienced firsthand. At that moment, I realized that my personal story could represent an excellent subject to develop in order to enter the world of cinema» thus Carpanzano, involved in contemporary dramaturgy especially in the theatrical field, traces in this episode the genesis of “The Void”, of which the first national screening is scheduled for Friday 6 October at the Teatro Comunale of Catanzaro.
The protagonists are Giorgio and Marco, twenty-year-olds from two different social contexts – one is the son of an established lawyer, the other of a farmer – who, to defend their love, share a struggle for emancipation as well as the burning desire to emerge and find your place in the world. Through a journey into their inner dimension, we investigate the drama of living an impossible love destined to succumb in a society poisoned by prejudice and emotional dryness.
«It is an autobiographical story that explores the fleeting boundary between freedom and self-destruction, but, going beyond the gender difference, it reveals itself to be a universal story in which anyone experiencing a thwarted love can identify. Already during the writing phase, the autobiographical boundaries dissolved and the story became everyone’s” explains the young director, immediately supported by Marino, who is attentive to social issues, such as the integration and rights of the LGBTQ+ community, in works produced by his Indaco Film.
«I strongly believe that cinema represents an important tool for raising awareness and conveying social messages and visions of reality, offering an opportunity not only for escape, but also for reflection» declares the producer, focusing on the attention he places towards the Calabrian territory.
The backdrop to “The Void”, which has already won the best LGBTQ+ film at the Ponza Film Award, is in fact the scenic beauty of Tropea, Vibo Valentia and Catanzaro, to whose municipal administrations it expresses its thanks for their availability and logistical support and technical.
The artistic cast is also equally Calabrian, in which the two young talents Gianluca Galati and Kevin Di Sole stand out, flanked by the most famous actresses Valentina Persia and Paola Lavini.
«I am keen to make every phase of our films in Calabria, involving promising young people and local workers. Each of our films represents the victory of the bet on the potential of our land in which cinema can be made with an eye towards emancipation” comments Marino announcing with Carpanzano – who together with her husband and little Enea represents an example of a happy homo-parental family in a region often defined as conservative – a busy calendar of screenings with the intervention of the director and some actors in the main Italian cities, including Cosenza, Reggio Calabria, Catania, Foggia, Cesena, Pisa, Sassari, Rome, Florence, Milan and Turin . A continuously updated program which, in the month of November, also includes film debate meetings on the LGBTQ+ theme with high school students. Proving that cinema can help consolidate a society based on equality and inclusiveness, far from stigma and discrimination.