The territories of the Nebrodi and the relationship between man and nature as medicine for the soul, the salient features of “Separati mai”, new short by Angelo Faracialready in the official selections of the prestigious Lift-Off Global Network review (America, United Kingdom and Germany).
After Montalbano Elicona in “Provvidenza” (2022) and Sant’Angelo di Brolo in “Pietrazita” (2023) – both second in the Sorriso Rai Cinema Channel Award to Tulipani di Seta Nera – the director from Palermo brings the splendid landscapes of the province of Messina back to the big screen with a story set in a magical and bucolic Sicily of the 1960s.
The story, with a strong impact, features Carmelina as the protagonist, a little girl locked in silence that will accompany her throughout her life, after the traumatic encounter with a pedophile (cameo by the actor from Catania Antonello Puglisi).
Grandfather (the actor of San Giorgio Stefano La Rosa) he gives her a black horse which will become the girl’s only source of mental well-being. The interpreters of the protagonist in the various stages of life are good, starting fromthe debutant Erika Mangano, from Rometta, with the role of Carmelina as a child, the influencer from Brole Rosita Di Luca Cardillo with that as an adult and, as a teenager, Chiara Canduci, by Ficarra, a promising young horse racer and daughter of Salvatore, trainer of the horse on stage. A story which, in addition to the delicate main theme, brings to the screen a different narrative of Sicily, highlighting the relationship between man and animal more typical of foreign productions and giving a touching ending open to hope.
«The idea was born from the Nebrodi territories themselves – Faraci tells us, in the film Tindaro, Carmelina’s father – which leads us to reflect on how much man’s relationship with nature and animals can give rise to important benefits for physical and mental health. In the story we see the shock linked to the abuse, which however is counterbalanced by the element of nature and the presence of the horse, an animal with a strong expressiveness, which with mimicry alone acts better than a human being.”
Many social issues are touched upon, from mental illness to bullying and pedophilia, up to a call for sustainability; illustrate the stylistic and narrative inspirations, which draw on the best cinematic and literary narration in Sicily.
«I lived Tornatore’s Sicily with my grandparents in those ancient villages like San Martino delle Scale, in Palermo, whose atmospheres I find today in the territories of Messina. It is the Sicily portrayed by Pirandello and Luchino Visconti, who brought back a highly authentic land and characters. With the actors we went to play on human portraits typical of neorealism and realism, placed in the story in order to arouse interest and propose an intriguing cinema, with details and particulars rarely seen”. An open-air set for the Nebrodi, which involved a technical staff and workers from Sicily, Calabria, Rome, Milan and a cast that includes, in addition to Faraci, La Rosa and Puglisi, the Roman actor Alessandro Leoni and Sicilian talents of the caliber of Alessandro Alicata, Marika Faraci, Maria Antonina Macaluso, Italobartolomeo Fucile from Messina and others. “Never separated” is written by Rosaria Lo Porto based on a story by Faraci and created by Ancora Cinematografica with the production of Salvatore Segreto, Maria Ausilia Patanè and Gianluca Guagliana.