Director Giorgio Diritti reconstructs a tragedy which happened in 1944 in the Monte Solo region near Bologna. As an act of revenge against a reinforced partisan movement, SS units shot over 700 people, mainly women, children, and the elderly. Diritti follows the events from the viewpoint of the villagers for whom the war is another incomprehensible burden in their already difficult lives.
Winter 1943. Everyday life on the farms gracing the slopes of Monte Solo near Bologna is defined by grueling labor, insufficient food, and the repeated "visits” of German soldiers who take what little the villagers have. But for eight-year-old Martina nothing is more important than anticipating a new life – she stopped speaking years ago when her baby brother died, and now she looks forward with silent hope to the birth of a new sibling. But the world keeps changing during the nine months that her mother is pregnant – the German soldiers become more aggressive and partisan commandos are being organized in the woods. And on the very day Martina gets a new baby brother the suspense culminates: SS units slaughter more than 700 women, children, and elderly people. This absurd and barbaric act has come down in history as the Marzabotto Massacre. Director Giorgio Diritti reconstructs the event with a feeling for the natural cycle of life and the values of country people in order more forcefully to emphasize the absurdities and "inappropriateness” of war.
117 min / Color, 35 mm
Director Giorgio Diritti
/ Screenplay Giorgio Diritti, Giovanni Galavotti, Tania Pedroni
/ Dir. of Photography Roberto Cimatti
/ Music Marco Biscarini, Daniele Furlati
/ Editor Giorgio Diritti, Paolo Marzoni
/ Producer Simone Bachini, Giorgio Diritti
/ Production Aranciafilm
/ Cast Alba Rohrwacher, Maya Sansa, Claudio Casadio, Greta Zuccheri Montanari, Stefano Bicocchi, Eleonora Mazzoni, Orfeo Orlando, Diego Pagotto
/ Contact Intramovies
Giorgio Diritti (b. 1959, Bologna) learned the craft of filmmaking while collaborating with a number of Italian creators (Carlo Lizzani, Lina Wertmüller), primarily Pupi Avati. He organized several castings for films shot in the Emilia-Romagna region (e.g. Fellini’s The Voice of the Moon), and has also worked with Ipotesi Cinema, an institute directed by Ermanno Olmi, which organizes training for young filmmakers. As a writer and director he has shot documentaries, short films, and television series. Diritti debuted with the short A Sailor’s Hat (Cappello da marinaio, 1990), and his first feature, The Wind Blows Round (Il vento fa il suo giro, 2005), nominated for five Italian national awards (David di Donatello), was presented at a number of festivals including Karlovy Vary in the section entitled The New Generation of Italian Film.
Intramovies
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Giorgio Diritti
Film Director
Paola Corvino
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