The South was the protagonist of two female debuts at the Rome Film Festival and Alice nella Cittàan independent event parallel to the festival dedicated to children which ended in recent days. The Roman directors Andree Lucini and Camilla Iannetti presented their documentaries “Piena di grazie” and “L’era d’oro”.
The first work, among the screenings of the Special Screening section – produced for Mompracem by Pieri Giorgio Bellocchio, Manetti Bros. and Desirée Manetti, who wrote it with Lucini – features Nicole Melara, Giada Campitiello and Mariateresa Leva as protagonists, three eleven-year-old finalists in the selection of Animella, the little girl chosen to impersonate the Madonna della Lettera in the Varia of Palmi, a UNESCO heritage religious festival, similar to the Vara of Messina, with which it has a historical link. «Désirée told me about the festival – says Lucini – and while the Manettis were filming “US Palmese” I went to do some inspections and get to know the inhabitants of Palmi, deciding to resume the procession. We met the girls by chance, following them throughout the selection process, and when we returned we interviewed them. They were happy to participate, but the whole city showed great availability towards us due to the strong bond of the people of Palma with the festival.”
Supported by the Calabria Film Commission and the Calabria Region, with filming in Corso Garibaldi, Marinella beach and Tonnara, “Full of Grace” explores the link between the sacred and the profane, alternating a fairy-tale narrative tone with interventions on the history of the procession by local personalities such as the journalist and writer Arcangelo Badolati and the photographer and operator Enzo Barone, historical memory of an event carrying a profound meaning that goes beyond the historical and religious value. «I believe that the Varia has represented over the years an event to unite the people and grant them a moment of peace – continued the director – with the common objective of having the float parade from start to finish. It also demonstrates how Western peoples have very similar traditions in their culture that share a tendency towards spectacularization.”
A coming-of-age story with a focus on parental dynamics and the female condition for Camilla Iannetti, a former student of the CSC Sicilia in Palermo, where she filmed “The Golden Era”, in competition in the “Panorama Italia” section of Alice nella Città. Produced by the Palermo-based Zabriskie with Cut& and Rai Cinema, it narrates the change, over the space of two years, of the three women who were already protagonists of the director’s medium-length film “Uno due tre” (2017): Lucy, a young Italian-English woman, her mother Roberta and sister Danny, who from Hull, East Yorkshire, returned to Palermo after the birth of Futura, had by Lucy with her partner Kitim. A choice, that of returning to Sicily, which will bring with it many challenges of growth and transformation.
«They are characters in search of an author reminiscent of Pirandello – Iannetti told us -. In the transformation of their daily lives I saw a special opportunity to be able to tell something that is difficult to deal with in cinema and documentaries.” A story of personal and at the same time universal formation: «Domestic scenes often hide dynamics that concern us all and so I identified an intimacy in the story, a strong dimension of detail, of repetition. It is a film that talks about growth not only in age, when we adapt to what experience offers us and gives young women the opportunity to reflect themselves in Lucy’s various ages.”
Filmed between Vucciria, Via Colonna Rotta, Mondello and Barcarello-Sferracavallo, “The Golden Era” was made with the support of the Tourism, Sport and Entertainment Department of the Sicilian Region and the Sicilia Film Commission.