Country: Italy
Year: 1955
Duration: 36'
Prato, early 1950s. The female workers of a textile factory decide to protest against the impending lay-offs planned by management. While the latter tries to sabotage them at every turn, the ladies occupy the factory, encouraged by their families’ support. The proprietor attempts to break their resistance, first by blocking the road to the factory, then cutting off the electricity, but he doesn’t quite get the results he intended. Giovanna spearheads the spirited group of women. Unlike her colleagues, however, she has to endure her husband’s strong disapproval of her involvement in the occupation. [cg]
Biography
film director
Gillo Pontecorvo
Gillo Pontecorvo (Pisa, Italy, 1919 - Rome, Italy, 2006) after starting his career with a few documentaries in the early 1950s, he made his feature debut with La grande strada azzurra (1957). Pane e zolfo received the Best Documentary Award at the Karlovy Vary Festival in 1959. He followed it up with Kapò (1961) and its Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film. His most famous film, The Battle of Algiers (1966), received three Academy nominations, a Golden Lion and the FIPRESCI Prize in Venice. He received an award for Best Director at the David di Donatello for Queimada (1969), and again for Ogro (1979). He became one of the curators of the Venice Film Festival in 1992, and directed it in 1996 and 1997. During that time, he also participated to the Torino Film Festival in 1995 with the ensemble short Roma dodici novembre 1994, receiving a Special Mention.
FILMOGRAFIA
Missione Timiriazev (doc., 1953), Giovanna (cm, 1955), La grande strada azzurra (1957), Gli uomini del lago (cm, doc., 1959), Pane e zolfo (doc., 1959), Kapò (1960), La battaglia di Algeri (1966), Queimada (1969), Ogro (1979), L’addio a Enrico Berlinguer (doc., 1984), 12 registi per 12 città (coregia/codirectors aa.vv., 1989), Roma dodici novembre 1994 (coregia/codirectors aa.vv., cm, doc., 1995), Un altro mondo è possibile (coregia/codirectors aa.vv., doc., 2001), Firenze, il nostro domani (coregia/codirectors aa.vv., doc., 2003).
Declaration
film director
“We could’ve just portrayed a woman during the Resistance, or just in her daily domestic relations. But we thought it would’ve been more useful to tell the story of a woman who also had to fight against the resistance from those places that were (or should have been) more inclined to support her role in the social and political scene. And so we came up with the story of Giovanna, a worker in a textile factory married to a metalworker who, to top it all off, was a communist. Despite her husband’s objections, and in spite of them, she took an active role in occupying the factory.”
Cast
& Credits
regia/director
Gillo Pontecorvo
soggetto, sceneggiatura/story, screenplay
Gillo Pontecorvo, Franco Solinas
fotografia/cinematography
Erico Menczer
montaggio/film editing
Enzo Alfonzi
costumi/costume design
Elena Mannini
musica/music
Mario Zanfred
interpreti/cast
Armida Gianassi, Carla Pozzi
produttore/producer
Giuliana G. De Negri
produzione/production
Tirrenica Film
contatti/contacts
Cineteca Nazionale
Laura Argento
laura.argento@fondazionecsc.it
www.fondazionecsc.it
Gillo Pontecorvo
soggetto, sceneggiatura/story, screenplay
Gillo Pontecorvo, Franco Solinas
fotografia/cinematography
Erico Menczer
montaggio/film editing
Enzo Alfonzi
costumi/costume design
Elena Mannini
musica/music
Mario Zanfred
interpreti/cast
Armida Gianassi, Carla Pozzi
produttore/producer
Giuliana G. De Negri
produzione/production
Tirrenica Film
contatti/contacts
Cineteca Nazionale
Laura Argento
laura.argento@fondazionecsc.it
www.fondazionecsc.it
