Fortàpasc

 

In 1985, at the age of 26, Giancarlo Siani (Libero De Rienzo), a reporter for the local newpaper Il Mattino was killed by the “Camorra” (Neapolitan Mafia) by ten gun shots. He loved both his life and his work. He would gather information, dig up hard facts, investigating and checking them carefully, often to a fault and to the Camorra’s dislike. It was his investigative spirit which would lead to his downfall. The film tells of his last four months, when he traveled daily from the genteel Vomero neighborhood where he lived, to the hellish mafia realm of boss Valentino Gionta (Massimiliano Gallo) in Torre Annunziata. At that time, criminal interests were focused on profiting from the post-earthquake construction, and Giancarlo was investigating the corruption in earthquake reconstruction efforts. He observed and he understood. He moved among members of the mafia, corrupt politicians, timid prosecutors and helpless policemen. He was like a lily in the mud. The night he was killed, he was supposed to go to Vasco Rossi’s rock-concert with his girlfriend.

 

 

Three Wives

 

Beatrice (Francesca D’Aloja), Bianca (Iaia Forte) and Billie (Silke Klein) have nothing in common. The first is a rich lady of leisure, the second, a content housewife and the third, a young, insolent, brazen-faced girl. Their three husband, a bank manager, a cashier and a security guard have disappeared after a big bank robbery. The three women resign themselves to the fact, but a year later, when the men are sighted in Argentina, each of the wives sets off on the fugitives’ trail, without the other two knowing. The three women not only start a journey into an unknown continent, but also an existential journey as they begin to think back over their lives and redefine themselves. What will their search reveal?

 

 

Boys on the Outside

 

After a hard life in the juvenile prison “Malaspina” in Palermo, the boys in the film Mery Forever are released. But once outside they must face new and even more difficult problems than those faced inside the institution. They must learn to handle their problematic freedom in a city which refuses to accept them or to give them a second chance. They are marked as outcasts and this fact obliges them, in order to survive, to enter once more into the world of petty crime that sent them to prison. Their broken families, resigned mothers and social workers merely reflect the inadequacy of the institutions, are of no help whatsoever. The street becomes the natural setting for their adventures. It is in the street that the tender and disenchanted Mery works as a prostitute with her friend Veronica… It is in the street that Cin-Ciong is killed during the shooting as he is caught stealing. It is in the street that Antonio, who sells potatoes, is arrested and put in prison for not having a permit. And it’s in the street that Natale, who is part of a gang, attempts to violate a girl but gives up when he sees how fearful she is, and it’s in the street that Claudio, the only one who succeeds at living a normal life and having family, is killed because of an old vendetta.