Country: Italy
Year: 2002
Duration: 75'


In Barra, a suburb to the east of Naples, a group of middle-school teachers are participating in the ministerial project Chance, that focuses on young people who have fallen by the scholastic wayside, students who haven't finished their compulsory education. These young people have dropped out of school, they have been kicked out or they have flunked out. Chance isn't a school like all the others: there are no class tests, no oral exams, no bells, and especially, no grades.

"We didn't want to dramatize reality, nor did we want to make it seem more pitiful, we only wanted to bear witness: these young people, despite their great hardships and misfortune, live their daily lives with unconscious courage and great irony" (A. D'Ambrosio, D. Di Biasio).

Biography

film director

Andrea D'Ambrosio

(Roccadaspide, Salerno, Italy, 1975) studied at Rome’s Nuova Università del Cinema e della Televisione and got his degree in directing. His short film Ecce Nanni (1998) won the Nastro d’argento and Pesci combattenti (2002) won other prizes. He has also worked as assistant director for Franco Zeffirelli for Storia di una capinera (1993).

FILMOGRAFIA

Andrea D’Ambrosio:
Ecce Nanni
(cm, doc., 1998), Attori di vita (doc., 1999), Gli anni nel cassetto (doc., 1999), Nel paese di temporali e di primule (doc., 2000), Come una nuvola che danza (doc., 2001), Pesci combattenti (doc., 2002), Checosamanca (doc. collettivo/collective doc., 2006).
Esmeralda Calabria, Andrea D’Ambrosio:
Biùtiful cauntri
(doc., 2007).

Daniele Di Biasio

(Formia, Italy, 1972) is a director and screenwriter for film and TV. He teaches high school Italian and history, holds courses in Italian as a second language, and teaches continuing education courses for teachers. In 2002, he wrote and directed <em>Pesci combattenti </em>(<em>Fighting Fish</em>), which won the Cipputi Prize, among others, and a mention as best documentary at the Torino Film Festival. In 2005, he directed <em>Via dell&rsquo;Esquilino</em>,<em> </em>which received a special mention at Visioni Italiane in Bologna and at the Genova Film Festival. In 2008, he directed <em>Soltanto un nome nei titoli di testa</em>, presented at the Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti section, and in 2010 <em>Figli del deserto</em>, presented at the London International Documentary Festival. In 2018, he began working with Adelmo Togliani on the documentary <em>Parlami d&rsquo;amore</em>, about Achille Togliani.</p>

FILMOGRAFIA

Codici (cm, 1999), Il parco regionale suburbano di Gianola e Monte Scauri (doc., 2000), Pesci combattenti (doc., 2002), Via dell’Esquilino (doc., 2002), Soltanto un nome nei titoli di testa (doc., 2005), Figli del deserto (doc., 2008), Parlami d’amore (coregia Adelmo Togliani, doc, 2022).

Cast

& Credits

Regia, soggetto, sceneggiatura: Andrea D'Ambrosio, Daniele Di Biasio.
Director of photography: Luca Alzani.
Sound: Max Gobbiet.
Editor: Giulio Testa.
Cast: Giovanni Penza, Simona Noverino, Francesco Lanza, Vincenzino Santoro, Luigi Mauro, Gemma D'Ambrosio, Lello Conte, Antonio Di Masi, Maria Coppola, Salvatore Ascione, Francesco D'Angelo, Rosaria Corvo, Benito Ascione, Mariarca Notturno (i ragazzi), Fiorella Picecchi, Anna La Rocca, Rita Iannazzone, Annamaria Torre (gli insegnanti).
Production company: Andrea Occhipinti per Eyescreen, via Chinotto 16, 00195 Roma, Italia, tel. +39-06-37352296; Nicola Giuliano e Francesca Cima per Indigo Film, corso Europa 72, 80126 Napoli, Italia, tel. +39-081-412875, e-mail indigo.film@tiscali.it; Gianluca Arcopinto per Pablo, via Della Robbia 22, 00153 Roma, Italia, tel. +39-06-5745004.

TFF

prizes

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION 2002

Special Mention

CIPPUTI AWARD 2002

Best Film About Working World

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