Escape from the Call Center

Colour, 35 mm
Italy, 2008, 90 min
IP – International premiere
Section: Forum of Independents

Synopsis

Badly paid temporary work with no prospects is known in Italy as precariato. Hundreds of thousands of young people have become victims of this particular consequence of the poor economic situation, forced to forget about "impractical” university education and take on menial positions, such as call-centre jobs. This is the fate of Gianfranco, the hero of the acerbic comedy by co-writer and director Federico Rizzo. A promising graduate of volcanology, he receives life’s first slap in the face in the form of a headset with microphone, with which, armed with a set of standard questions, he is forced to plough his way through a list of randomly selected homeowners, day after day. His girlfriend Marzia, an ambitious reporter, isn’t much better off as a switchboard operator for an erotic hotline. The grotesquely stylised scenes portraying the inauspicious lives of young Italians are linked up with interviews with real-life precariati, offering their insight into the insane philosophy of ubiquitous call centres.

About the director

Federico Rizzo (b. 1975, Brindisi) studied film and TV screenwriting in Milan and then attended the DAMS film school in Bologna, writing his thesis on director Ermanno Olmi. Apart from several short films, he has written screenplays and shot six feature films using digital technology, which form a major part of his "Decalogue of Young Victims” series. Filmography: Storia malata (1999), Offresi posto letto (2000), Whisky, di via Nikolajevka (2001), I pesi di Pippo (2002), Passe-partout per l’inferno (2003), Lievi crepe sul muro di cinta (2004). He lives in Milan.