Le mamme del leoncavallo

This documentary in the series Islands of Human Resistance, consists in interviews with some mothers from the Leoncavallo social center made in the space on the street outside the center during the winter of 1993-94, accompanied by images of the threedayIong "siege" of Via Leoncavallo and news footage on Fausto and laio.

"This work originates as a piece of video research and documentary on the autonomously run social centers in Milan destined for the archives of the Istituto Ernesto De Martino. After I had spent months in the various centers, I thought that it would be very useful to use the material I shot as 'counterinformation', given that most of the information on this issue is partial, wrong, or, in any case, indirect. The material was put together with the precise intention not to give interpretations on the issue, but simply to give the people a chance to speak for themselves when, otherwise, they would not be able to communicate. The biggest problem I ran into while I was shooting was earning the political trust of the countless people that made up the 'population' of the centers, but at last I earned their trust." (Isabella Ciarchi).

Director and screenplay: Isabella Ciarchi.
Director of photography: Isabella Ciarchi, Giuseppe Baresi.
Music: Fabio Barovero, Loschi Dezi.
Editor: Piero Liiius.
Production company: Isabella Ciarchi, via San Marco 18, 20121 Milano, tel. +39-02-6571389 Istituto Ernesto De Martino Studio Equatore.