Telling a story of training and family ties with an atmospheric thriller with a teen tinge, between noir and coming of age, the challenge of «Indelible», debut work by Simone Valentini – produced by Giovanni Amico and Twister Film with the support of the Sicilia Film Commission – whose filming concluded on 18 February. Filmed in the Palermo locations of Castelbuono, Isnello, Geraci Siculo and in the Madonie areathe film proposes a story set in a town in the Sicilian hinterland, where a case of disappearance during the Christmas holidays triggers a monster hunt among the kids. The main suspect, previously suspected of murder, is the elderly and solitary Carlo, played by the Castelvetrano actor Fabrizio Ferracane. Alongside her, Giulia Dragotto from Palermo, in the film Veronica, the man’s granddaughter, and Federica De Cola from Messina in the role of her daughter Betta.
«Carlo is a man who lost his great love and has since retired, dedicating himself to country life – says Ferracane –. He avoids any social contact and is accused by the inhabitants of the town precisely because of his confidentiality. This suspicion will have repercussions on family relationships, with her niece in particular, with whom she had a wonderful relationship which will fall apart when she begins to investigate him.”
A characterization of adolescent feelings in the role of Dragotto: «Veronica is sent from Palermo to spend Christmas at Carlo’s house due to her parents’ separation. During her forced stay in her village she will find a profoundly changed reality: in addition to her grandfather being older and touched by her suspicion, she will live experiences that will mark an increasingly marked distance between her and her childhood friends.” A difficult confrontation with her father for Betta, played by De Cola: «We talk about Betta’s relationship with her parent full of anger and suffering. She and Carlo are worlds apart in some respects and close in others. In the film, the woman’s desire to give her daughter that opening towards the world that was denied to her emerges, and her presence is felt even when she is not on stage.”
A complex story. «We wanted to tell how the growth of a teenager could be influenced by a non-canonical figure like that of her grandfather – says Valentini –. In the story we represent various nuances and types of families to make it clear how children are influenced by them, comparing the macro-worlds of adults and adolescents who are mirrors of each other, in a Sicily free of stereotypes with problems typical of each part of Italy. The thriller allows us to address this and other themes with different narrative strings, which vibrate depending on the various moments.”
Based on a story written by Paolo Bernardelli and Laura Chiossone – author of the screenplay with Francesca Scanu, Luca Di Molfetta and Francesca Tassini – the work is made with a mostly Sicilian artistic and technical cast, by the producer Giovanni Amico, of Mussomeli (Caltanissetta), to the other performers: the Palermo artists Vincenzo Crivello, Ester Vinci, Miriam Dalmazio and Susanna Piraino and the Catanian Goffredo Maria Bruno. The numerous technical staff includes, among others, the Palermo artists Costanza Gelardi (set designer) and Gaspare Macaluso (sound engineer) and Giovanni Marchese from Catania (production manager). «The local workers involved have demonstrated how in Sicily there is great professionalism that should be strongly encouraged», underlined the producer Amico.
«Indelible» is among the projects supported by the Venice Gap-Financing Market 2022 and will be released in theaters with the Venice Film Festival logo.