Country: Italy
Year: 2007
Duration: 57'
The women of San Constantino and San Paolo Albanese, in Basilicata, sing with their shrill and broken voices. They sing ancient vjeshet, that are passed down from mother to daughter and tell of the flight of the Albanians, who found refuge in southern Italy five centuries ago. The stories of brave and ironical women, stories of emigration and “The idea came to me because I wanted to understand what cultural traditions represent to two communities in Lucania, above all from the women’s point of view, and how various cultural impositions can be so oppressive and hard. I wanted to give an anthropological side to the documentary and I spent lots of time with the people, observing in a participatory way, following their daily life. […] Despite their initial shyness, by the end of the shooting I was struck by how much the women wanted to tell me about themselves, in a way that was both ironical and involved, that was at times touching.”
homecoming during the course of a summer, told through simple and daily meetings that reveal the memories, joys and harsh life of each one of them.
Biography
film director
Rossella Schillaci
Rossella Schillaci (Turin, Italy, 1973) received her master’s degree in 2000 in
visual anthropology from the University of Manchester. She later followed directing courses with Daniele Segre and Abbas Kiarostami and worked as assistant director on RAI and Mediaset productions. In 2006, her mediumlength film Pratica e Maestria won the Bartok prize at the Bilan du film
etnographique in Paris and the following year won first prize at the Warsaw
Film Festival. In 2007 she also made the documentary Viesh/Canto, which
screened at the Torino Film Festival and won various prizes, including the Prix
Jean Rouch in Paris. Her preceding film, La Fiuma - Incontri sul Po e dintorni,
won a Special Mention at Torino’s Festival CinemAmbiente. She is now working as a director and writer for television programs and documentaries
with the production company Azul.
FILMOGRAFIA
filmografia essenziale/
essential filmography
Pratica e Maestria (mm, doc., 2005), Vjesh/Canto (mm, doc., 2007),
La Fiuma - Incontri sul Po e dintorni (doc., 2008), Solo questo mare
(cm, doc., 2009).
Cast
& Credits
regia/director Rossella Schillaci
fotografia/director of photography Sonia Antonini, Rossella Schillaci
montaggio/film editor Marta Zen
suono/sound Roberto Remorino
interpreti/cast Giuseppe Aringoli, Costantino Troiano, Pasquale Troiano, Giuseppe Di Giorgio, Angelina Rago, Maddalena Troiano, Rosina Filomena, Caterina Osnato, Domenica Calluori, Carmina Paschino, Francesca Santamaria, Quirino Valvano, Egidio Antonio Mele, Enzo Schillizzi, Antonietta Brescia, Teresa Scutari, Pina Magnocavallo, Giuseppina Ciminelli
produttore/producer Nicola Sofri
produzione, distribuzione/production, distribution Palomar Endemol
coproduzione/coproduction Dipartimento per gli Affari regionali e le autonomie locali, Comune di Piana degli Albanesi
fotografia/director of photography Sonia Antonini, Rossella Schillaci
montaggio/film editor Marta Zen
suono/sound Roberto Remorino
interpreti/cast Giuseppe Aringoli, Costantino Troiano, Pasquale Troiano, Giuseppe Di Giorgio, Angelina Rago, Maddalena Troiano, Rosina Filomena, Caterina Osnato, Domenica Calluori, Carmina Paschino, Francesca Santamaria, Quirino Valvano, Egidio Antonio Mele, Enzo Schillizzi, Antonietta Brescia, Teresa Scutari, Pina Magnocavallo, Giuseppina Ciminelli
produttore/producer Nicola Sofri
produzione, distribuzione/production, distribution Palomar Endemol
coproduzione/coproduction Dipartimento per gli Affari regionali e le autonomie locali, Comune di Piana degli Albanesi