A Roma community in the Calabrian
coastal town of Gioia Tauro, amid crimes and deep family ties,
is the focus of the latest film by Italo-American Jonas
Carpignano.
'A Ciambra' is a fictionalized account of a reality that is
often shrouded from the view of outsiders and centers on the
14-year-old Roma boy Pio. Pio Amato played the main character
and the rest of his family acted alongside him.
It is the second film by the 33-year-old, whose
African-American mother is from New York but raised in the
Barbados and whose father is from the Italian capital.
After its debut at the Quinzaine des Realisateurs in Cannes,
where it won the Europa Cinema Label, 40-50 copies of the film
will be in cinemas starting on August 31, distributed by Academy
Two.
Co-producing the film was film legend Martin Scorsese, who
chose the film to be granted support from a fund created with
other producers to help emerging directors.
Scorsese has called the film "beautiful and touching".
In addition to having been sold in over 15 countries, the
film has been selected as one of the 51 feature films in the
running (the other Italian ones are 'Fortunata', 'Rosso
Istanbul' and 'Indivisibili') at the European Film Academy.
"Having Scorsese in the project was a dream," Carpignano said
at a press conference. " When they told me that he was looking
at the version for Cannes I was shocked and was afraid of making
a bad impression. Instead, he helped me a great deal on the
editing for the final version, to find a balance between the
documentary aspect and the story itself."
Carpignano made his first film in Gioia Tauro,
'Mediterranea', on African immigrants in Calabria.
"I got to know the Roma community of 'A Ciambra' in 2011,
when my car was stolen with all the film equipment inside and I
went to them to get it back. I was immediately struck by that
reality, with the children who smoke and drive and the tight
bonds between the community - which is a strong point, but also
a weak one. It was there that I met Pio for the first time, who
was 11 at that time, in a leather jacket and cigarette always in
hand. He followed me everywhere, and in some sense he was the
one to choose me. It was through him that I met and was accepted
by his family."
In the film, Pio is a highly intelligent 14-year-old that
does not know how to read ("and this is actually the case",
noted Carpignano). He interacts freely with Italians and
Africans - unlike most of his community - but in order to feel
like an adult he wants to take part in his family's petty
thieving of copper from cars.
His overconfidence leads in the film to a serious mistake and
his family ties will require him to make a very difficult
choice.
The screenplay "began with a documentary approach. I included
scenes and experiences from their real life".
The Amato family were not worried " about showing their
activities like theft. Actually, they are proud of them and see
it as a way to survive. They do not consider themselves
thieves."
Carpignano said that what is important as a filmmaker is to
"respect and convey reality".
To the question of whether Pio's life is still as seen in the
film, the director said that "it would be nice to say that he
now has other prospects, what this is his life. The film was
only an experience."
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