A story that is also a reflection on one's origins through historical images of great impact. The difficult period we have been experiencing for a year has not stopped the creativity of an Italian director, Alessia Bottone, who conceived and produced the short documentary “My father's Naples”. A choral story, full of emotions, memories and above all of love for this city. The peculiarity of this work is also the use of images. In fact, the director had access to the material stored in the “AAMOD” archives of the “ISTITUTO LUCE CINECITTÀ”, HOME MOVIES and by concession of the CINETECA FOUNDATION of BOLOGNA. In fact, in 2018 the director was among the finalists of the “Cesare Zavattini Award” for the creation of projects for the creative reuse of archive cinema and of the “Luzzati Award” for short films.
Alessia Bottone, the story of a journey in search of one's origins
The short documentary made by Alessia Bottone tells Naples through the eyes and words of his father Giuseppe, who is also the protagonist of the film. The film starts from the memories of Alessia, her daughter, who often saw her father looking out the window. A question was often asked "What was able to attract the attention of the father in such an intense way". And after a few years when Alessia returns to Naples she finds herself once again observing her father looking at the surrounding landscape. And he will be the one to tell about his Naples. Memories of his childhood, among migrants and locals.
The story also focuses on the theme of escape, on the fear of the unknown that unites them emigrants Italians of the last century with a cardboard suitcase. Up to the migrants aboard the boats of today. It is here that Alessia understands what her father looked out of the window: the memories of her life, her city. The director recounts "the journey of a lifetime" which allows her to know her origins. "Because however far we can go, we always go back to where it all started".
The story of Alessia Bottone between emigration and travel
"The idea of the film stems from two needs - says Alessia Bottone -. On the one hand, the need to tell the relationship between father and daughter in a story; on the other hand, the desire to focus on the theme of escape, understood by reality but also as a means of survival for migrants and asylum seekers. I have always felt part of a South that I only met thanks to the anecdotes of my father and a North where I was born and raised and I wondered if this feeling was also shared by the children of the new migrants.
Living in a context where multiple cultures coexist is undoubtedly enriching, but finding one's own identity within this wealth is not always easy.". The director then collected the memories of her father and through his gaze she rediscovered another part of herself.
"I dedicated myself to the topic of migration - adds - to summarize my experience both as a journalist and as an employee of a reception center in Switzerland, where I worked with people who lived on the run in search of a place in the world ". The result was a silent dialogue between travelers, who “They jealously guard their past while fighting the ambitious battle of acceptance and integration into a new land".
The use of historical archives to recover images
The beauty of this work, as Alessia Bottone explains, is in the use of images. "The issue is addressed thanks to the images of the Albanian migrant landings in 1991 from the Aamod Archive - explains the director -. From a narrative point of view, I was inspired by the short story “A pair of glasses” by Anna Maria Ortese.
Giuseppe's narrative voice accompanies us in a Naples that no longer exists but continues to live in his memories. The archive images shape his journey into the past, accompanying the viewer in a dreamlike dimension. Thanks to my participation in the Zavattini Prize, I understood the strength of archive images and their vitality and it is as if they had suggested to me that this was the only way to go to tell the story. journey of a lifetime. The search for images and their study, which moved hand in hand with the reconstruction of memories, made the making of this film the very journey I wanted to tell.".
“My father's Naples” from 18 to 24 January will be in France, at the FIPA DOC International Festival in Biarritz (only two short films selected). And it will be a French premiere of great importance. Alessia Bottone's work is participating in several festivals and has already received important awards.
Technical notes on the film
Protagonists of Alessia Bottone's film I'm Valentina Bellè, who plays the director, and Giuseppe Bottone, Alessia's father. The film is produced by Alessia Bottone in collaboration with the “Audiovisual Archive” of the Labor and Democratic Movement, Istituto Luce and K-Studio.
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