«The news that “Semidei”, which is also on the short list of the David di Donatello, landed in the top five finalists for the Nastri d’Argento it’s a great emotion, but above all, in these hours, what “infects” the whole team is an anxiety that I can’t even describe.” These are the immediate feelings of the Reggio journalist Giuseppe Smorto, after the nomination for the Silver Ribbon of the docufilm written together with Armando Maria Trotta, Massimo Razzi and Fabio Mollo (the latter director together with Alessandra Cataleta), made by Carlo Degli Esposti and by Nicola Serra for Palomar Media San on the occasion of the celebrations dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Riace Bronzes and co-financed by the Calabria Region and the Calabria Film Commission Foundation.
With his heart and mind already projected towards the awards ceremony scheduled for Monday 26 February in Rome at the Barberini cinema, Giuseppe Smorto has many reasons, and not just sentimental ones, to define what has developed around the a story that retraces, over half a century, the history of the two best preserved bronze statues in the world, which re-emerged from the sea of Riace in 1972, after two thousand years spent underwater.
Interviews, unpublished documents and direct testimonies make the cinematographic product particularly significant, which also translated into a moment of reflection and knowledge for students in the province of Reggio. And there are also many questions (are there only two statues? What happened to the spears and shields? Was Mariottini the first to find them?), which “open up” to a story perhaps still partly to be written. «As a Reggio Calabrian, I’m really happy; for the Museum and for my fellow citizens; it seems like only yesterday when the idea took shape, bringing the city to the heart and involving people like Stefano Mariottini or Daniele Castrizio. It’s true, entertainment is not my world – admits Giuseppe Smorto – because I have always been a journalist, but finding ourselves all together on this stage of great finales truly gives us the conviction that the Mythical Warriors have truly become “Demigods”. And this was precisely the challenge, today more than ever at a time when the greatest names in cinema, from Mario Martone to Riccardo Milani, are returning to making documentaries.”
Yesterday the announcement of the Italian film journalists who are awarding the Silver Ribbons and at the awards ceremony on Monday 26 February in Rome at the Barberini cinema they will also award the Silver Ribbons to Mario Martone, Ribbon of the Year for “Somebody Down There Loves Me” and «A moving portrait. Homage to Mimmo Jodice”, and to the writer and screenwriter Edith Bruck for “Edith”, an emotional autobiographical testimony on the Shoah, from an idea by Giovanna Boursier, directed by Michele Mally.
THE 10 finalists announced, plus the five specials dedicated to art documentarieswere chosen from among the 55 competitors in the two categories dedicated to the story of the “Real” (in competition: «Fragments of a love journey» by Chloè Barreau; «The walls of Bergamo» by Stefano Savona; «Mur» by Kasia Smutniak; «Kripton» by Francesco Munzi; «Pure Strangers» by Valentina Cicogna, Mattia Colombo) and the films on “Cinema, Entertainment, Culture” («Semidei» by Fabio Mollo and Alessandra Cataleta from Reggio, «Vengo anch’io» by Giorgio Verdelli ; «Io, noi e Gaber» by Riccardo Milani; «Kissing Gorbaciov» by Andrea Paco Mariani, Luigi D’Alife; «Profondoargento» by Giancarlo Rolandi, Steve Della Casa. In the next few days the awards for the best docufilm will be completed and for the documentary, which won the «Pedicini».