| Director: | Gianfranco Rosi |
|---|---|
| Production: | 21Uno Film (Gianfranco Rosi), Stemal Entertainment (Donatella Palermo) |
| Running Time: | 115’ |
| Language: | Italian, Syrian-Arabic, Japanese, English |
| Country: | Italy |
| Screenplay: | Gianfranco Rosi |
| Cinematographer: | Gianfranco Rosi |
| Editor: | Fabrizio Federico |
| Music: | Daniel Blumberg |
| Sound: | Gianfranco Rosi |
Cinema
Sotto le nuvole (Below the clouds)
Venezia 82 Competition
Synopsis
Between Vesuvius and the Gulf of Naples, the land quakes from time to time, and the fumaroles of the Phlegraean Fields taint the air. The ruins that lie below — Pompeii, Herculaneum, long-submerged Roman villas — tell of a future that was buried by time. From these traces of history, memories of the subterranean world, in black and white, a lesser-known Naples emerges and fills with lives.
Below the clouds lies a territory criss-crossed by inhabitants, worshippers, tourists and archaeologists excavating the past — and by those who, in museums, strive to give new life and meaning to statues, fragments and ruins. The train that rings Vesuvius makes its rounds as racehorses train along the shore. A teacher runs a makeshift after-school for children and adolescents. Firefighters in their command centre try to calm the fears of locals who call in; law enforcement pursue tomb robbers, while in Torre Annunziata, Syrian tankers unload Ukrainian grain.
A team of Japanese archaeologists continue their twenty-year excavation of Villa Augustea, extracting history from seeds, bones and layers of sediment. Tourists wander the ruins of Pompeii, and worshippers prostrate themselves at the church of the Madonna dell’Arco, where the crypts and ex-votos attest to the belief of a world that has survived. The land that skirts the Gulf is a vast time machine.
Director’s statement
For three years, I lived and filmed at the horizons of Vesuvius, seeking traces of history, the excavation of time, the remains of everyday life. I captured the stories in the voices of those who spoke; I watched the clouds and the smoke rising from the Phlegraean Fields. When I film, I embrace the surprise in an encounter, in a place, the life of a situation. The challenge is to follow the frame as the stories come to life. The time of the film is the trust of that encounter. I filmed in black and white, and I saw in black and white. As I filmed — between the sea, the sky, and Vesuvius — I uncovered a new archive of the true and the possible.
Production/Distribution
PRODUCTION 1:
21Uno Film Srl – Gianfranco Rosi
Via Caio Mario, 7
00192 Roma, Italia
Tel: +39 0639750019
E-mail: sandrastemal@gmail.com
Web:
Social Media:
PRODUCTION 2:
Stemal Entertainment Srl - Donatella Palermo
Via Caio Mario, 7
00192 Roma, Italia
Tel: + 39 0639750019
E-mail: stemal.entertainment@gmail.com
PRODUCTION 3:
Rai Cinema - Paolo Del Brocco
Piazza Adriana, 12
00193 Roma, Italia
Tel: +39 0633179601
E-mail: anna.pomara@raicinema.it
WORLD SALES:
The Match Factory - Michael Weber
Domstrasse, 60
50668 Cologne, Germany
Tel: +49 2215397090
E-mail: info@matchfactory.de
ITALIAN DISTRIBUTION:
01 Distribution - Luigi Lonigro
Piazza Adriana, 12
00193 Roma, Italia
Tel: +39 0633179601
E-mail: soniapisana.dichter@raicinema.it
Web: http://www.01distribution.it
INTERNATIONAL PRESS OFFICE:
Claudia Tomassini, Paola Schettino Nobile - claudiatomassini + associates
E-mail: festivals@claudiatomassini.com
ITALIAN PRESS OFFICE:
Flavia Schiavi and Olivia Alighiero – PUNTOeVIRGOLA
Via Natale del Grande, 40
00153 Roma, Italia
E-mail: info@studiopuntoevirgola.com
