Francesca Mazzoleni
Italy | 2020 | 98 min
Language : Italian
Subtitles : English, French
At the edge of Rome, at the mouth of the Tiber, the small district of Idroscalo di Ostia juts out into the sea. The women who live there, such as Franca and her daughters, are the bearers of its stories, and of the natural power of the place. This sacred point becomes the stage of a community’s resistance, expressing its right to live in this place. Visions du Réel Grand Prize 2020.
At the mouth of the River Tiber, the little neighbourhood of Idroscalo di Ostia is expanding unhindered into the sea, with no planning scheme, caught between two bodies of water. Streets end in vacant lots sprayed with mist, and its makeshift houses are largely open to the elements. The stories that make up Punta Sacra are just as spontaneous and in touch with a vibrant reality. In 2010, half of the district’s houses were destroyed. Today, only a few hundred families remain, in what has become a close-knit community defending its right to stay. The female inhabitants of “Sacred Point”, such as Franca, her daughters and neighbours, carry its stories and lay claim to their ideas, moved by the natural strength of the place, between wild realism and popular imagination. Filmmaker Francesca Mazzoleni has recorded many stories there: from scenes of young children playing on the seawall, fireworks at dusk, and political discussions at the dinner table... These scenes of dialogue and freedom are given deeper meaning thanks to a direction bolstered by overhead drone shots and an original and striking score.
Madeline Robert
Succede, 2018
L'Etoile de mer, 2015
1989, 2015
Lo so che mi senti, 2015
The Empty Boat, 2014
Il premio, 2014
Rubare la ricotta, 2011
