Country: Italy
Year: 2007
Duration: 73'
Shepherds see their sheep die of dioxin poisoning, a teacher is fighting environmental crimes and farmers cultivate their fields, that have been contaminated by the nearby garbage dumps. These are a few of the stories that denounce and bear witness to, the massacre of Campania, one of the regions with the highest number of illegal dump sites in Italy. Behind it all, the Camorra is involved in business dealings, with trucks and earth-moving machinery instead of guns. A judge talks about the white-collar Camorra, deviated entrepreneurship and institutional collusion, revealing the mechanisms of a violent activity that, over time, causes more deaths than any other kind of crime. “We asked ourselves how, in 2007, people can still live this way here in Italy… The problem of waste disposal involves wide-ranging and complex mechanisms that touch politics, the economy, organized crime and public health. It doesn’t involve only Campania, but rather, the whole country. We have tried to describe this situation, starting with Acerra, Qualiano, Giugliano, Villaricca, all towns that are located within twentyfive kilometers of Naples.”
Biography
film director
Esmeralda Calabria
Film editor, she has collaborated with various directors, including Roberto Andò, Francesca Archibugi, Giorgio Diritti, the D’Innocenzo brothers, Nanni Moretti, Giuseppe Piccioni, Michele Placido, and Paolo Virzì. Over the course of her career, she has won three David di Donatello, two Golden Ciak awards and two Silver Ribbons for her work as a film editor. In 2007, with Peppe Ruggiero and Andrea D’Ambrosio, she directed her first feature film, Biùtiful cauntri, which won a special mention at the Torino Film Festival and a Silver Ribbon for best documentary. In 2016, she founded the production company Akifilm, with which she produced the documentaries Upwelling by Pietro Pasquetti and Silvia Jop (Jury Prize at Vision du Réel at Nyon); Lievito madre, which she edited and co-directed with Concita De Gregorio (Special Event at the 2017 Venice Film Festival); In questo mondo by Anna Kauber, winner in the Italiana.doc section at the 2018 Torino Film Festival; and the short Preghiera della sera by Giuseppe Piccioni (Orizzonti, 2021 Venice Film Festival).
FILMOGRAFIA
Biùtiful cauntri (coregia Peppe Ruggiero, Andrea D’Ambrosio, doc, 2007), Lievito madre - Le ragazze del secolo scorso (coregia Concita De Gregorio, doc, 2017), Parlate a bassa voce (doc, 2022).
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).
Cast
& Credits
regia/director Esmeralda Calabria, Andrea D’Ambrosio
soggetto, sceneggiatura/story, screenplay Esmeralda Calabria, Andrea D’Ambrosio Giuseppe Ruggiero
fotografia/director of photography Alessandro Abate
montaggio/film editor Esmeralda Calabria
musica/music Paranza Vibes (Valerio Camporini Faggioni, Guido Zen)
suono/sound Daniele Maraniello
produttore/producer Lionello Cerri
produzione/production Lumière & Co.
soggetto, sceneggiatura/story, screenplay Esmeralda Calabria, Andrea D’Ambrosio Giuseppe Ruggiero
fotografia/director of photography Alessandro Abate
montaggio/film editor Esmeralda Calabria
musica/music Paranza Vibes (Valerio Camporini Faggioni, Guido Zen)
suono/sound Daniele Maraniello
produttore/producer Lionello Cerri
produzione/production Lumière & Co.
TFF
prizes
