War not only as a war event in the strict sense, which in these days involves and shocks more than ever, but also as an internal conflict that affects us most closely: the one against the mafia. This is the theme addressed in the opening of the third edition of Magna Graecia Experience, at the Casalinuovo Auditorium in Catanzaro, in which students from high schools and high schools in the area took part. The director is the protagonist in Catanzaro Marco Risiwelcomed and awarded by the artistic director Gianvito Casadonte, on the occasion of the viewing of “Fortapache”, the film dedicated to the journalist killed by the Camorra Giancarlo Siani. The event – supported by Ministry of Culture, Calabria Film Commission and Municipality of Catanzarowith the patronage ofRegional school officeand and in collaboration with the LILT Catanzaro – is aimed specifically at young people, invited to develop their own critical conscience, to inform themselves and understand the dynamics of the world to make the future a better place for everyone.
“I went around Italy talking to guys like you about this matter – Marco Risi explained on stage -. Giancarlo was a very normal boy, with his own passions. This is why the film also works on an emotional level. He wasn’t a hero, he became one despite him, because he only wanted to tell the truth while doing his job.” Many names and well-known faces collaborated on the project, including the late Libero de Rienzo, Ennio Fantastichini and the journalist Andrea Purgatori as co-writer. Pressed by a student’s question, the director then explained the meaning behind the film’s title: “Fortapache is actually a somewhat difficult title, but it is becoming a symbol. I wanted to describe Torre Annunziata, the place where the story is set, as if it were a fort besieged and destroyed by the Camorra.” In speaking to the students in the room, the director of many successful films such as “Mery forever” and “The Last New Year” then added: “In the debate scene in the gym, the kids ask Siani if everything is corrupt and so there is no hope. He says something beautiful, even if a little rhetorical: You are hope. And it’s true, it’s not that you have to carry all the weight of the world on your shoulders, but it’s you who have to improve things at least a little, in your own small way.”
The artistic director of the Magna Graecia Experience, Gianvito Casadonte, in opening the day he underlined the objective of “starting a journey with young people, the ruling class and the public of the future. The kids have a huge responsibility to one day lead this country, this region, in a serious and honest way. Only by building your own education step by step can you say you are a happy person. And the only way to be happy is to try to do your duty.” Greetings from the Mayor of Catanzaro also from the stage, Nicola Fiorita: “We want to help make schools a place of exchange. The theme of war is dramatically current because among the many international conflicts, it is impressive to think that some of these also involve us directly”. The President of the Municipal Council of the capital was also invited to speak, Gianmichele Bosco: “We hope to always assist from afar – he said – but with due attention and with the sensitivity necessary to understand these infamous wars, because only in this way can they be defined”.
Tomorrow Tuesday 17 October, again at the Casalinuovo Auditorium from 9.30 am, MG Experience will continue with the homage to a cult in the history of sports cinema, “Escape to Victory” by John Huston with Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow, Pelé protagonists of a football match between a Nazi team and athletes who were prisoners of war. Sky journalist Marco Cattaneo will talk about it with the students.