Why do foreigners love Italy while Italians can hardly find a good thing to say about it?
After the surprise success of their first documentary Suddenly Last Winter (Special Jury Mention Berlinale 2008, Nastro d’Argento 2009), Italian filmmakers Luca Ragazzi and Gustav Hofer are back to take stock of today’s Italy, with their signature irony and sarcasm.
Gustav, a northerner; pragmatic with a strong political sensibility and Luca, a typical indolent Roman; lazy and fatalistic, compliment each other perfectly.
The two young Italians have witnessed the exodus of many of their friends to Berlin, London or Barcelona over the last few years. Creative, talented people who don’t see a future in their country: the high-cost of living, the lack of job security, the indifference to human rights, just as a start.
Gustav believes that it is time for them to also go abroad, but Luca sees many good reasons to stay, that Italy is full of passionate and committed people who every day carry on a silent battle to change things for the better.
They agree to give themselves 6 months to try and fall in love with their country again. They will journey across Italy in an old Fiat 500, a road trip to try and understand why their home still appears to have the power to make people abroad dream, to make sense of its celebrated past and uncertain future. They’ll discover a country much divided and full of contradictions, but on the edge of significant change.
Filmmakers Gustav Hofer & Luca Ragazzi
After the success of their first film Suddenly Last Winter (Special Jury Mention Berlinale 2008, Nastro d’Argento 2009), which delved into the dark side of Italy, Gustav and Luca knew that if they were ever to make another film together, it would have to be something that touched them personally and that they felt was urgent.
“Our starting point was what was happening in our lives at that moment: we were moving out of our flat in Rome and thinking seriously about going abroad as so many of our friends have in recent years. The reasons to leave Italy, especially for people of our generation, are many. But it’s also true that Italians have a tendency to complain bitterly about our country without ever rolling up our sleeves and trying to do something about changing it.”
Opens in Toronto on Friday, January 25, 2013 @ the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
For more info: http://www.italyloveitorleaveit.it/
Edited article via materials from Kinosmith