| Director: | Franco Maresco |
|---|---|
| Production: | Minimum Fax Media, Lucky Red |
| Running Time: | 20’ |
| Language: | Italian |
| Country: | Italy |
| Screenplay: | Franco Maresco, Claudia Uzzo |
| Cinematographer: | Tommaso Lusena |
| Editor: | Francesco Guttuso (excerpts for screening in Venice) |
| Music: | Salvatore Bonafede |
| Sound: | Luca Bertolin |
| As themselves: | Goffredo Fofi, Franco Maresco with the participation of Letizia Battaglia |
|---|
Twenty minutes of excerpts from the film, still in progress, that Franco Maresco dedicates to his dearest mentor, Goffredo Fofi, who passed away last July.
Pressed by the director, the intellectual from Gubbio, Umbria, in central Italy — who considered Palermo his university of life and activism — lets out a courageous confession, recalling the crucial moments of his unparalleled human, cultural and political experience. This conversation in Sicily, which took place on the road between 2019 and 2022, begins in Maresco’s hometown, passing through the places where the young Fofi and sociologist Danilo Dolci spent time together: the descent into the sub-proletarian hell of Cortile Cascino, the “reverse strikes” involving the unemployed and labourers of Trappeto and Partinico, the stubborn accusation against those who colluded in the first state-sponsored massacre at Portella della Ginestra.
Retracing long-standing controversies with writers Leonardo Sciascia and Vincenzo Consolo, discussing Elsa Morante and Federico Fellini, and epically John Ford and the ashes of a certain kind of cinema, we arrive at the final meeting between Goffredo and Letizia Battaglia, on the occasion of an exhibition of photojournalists from L’Ora.
An occasion that allows Maresco to compose, along with the portrait of the indomitable activist and writer who was his friend, a new chapter in his de profundis on the twilight of twentieth-century utopias.
Goffredo Fofi was one of the very few points of reference in my cultural and human development, an extraordinary guide I have followed with unconditional admiration since adolescence. Completing this film is my act of love and gratitude for a man of rare generosity and passion; a contribution, I hope effective and moving, to our understanding of a great protagonist of Italian culture over the last sixty years.
This country — often forgetful and ungrateful — owes a great deal to Goffredo Fofi and his memorable battles for civilisation. We must remember him.
PRODUCTION:
Minimum Fax Media - Daniele Di Gennaro
ITALIAN DISTRIBUTION:
Lucky Red
