ALMOST HEROES

Original Title: Quasi eroi Director: Giovanni Piperno Cast: Christian Benigni, Valentina Mazzarella, Adamo Dionisi

Country: Italy Year: 2015 Length: 20’

Screenplay: Pier Paolo Piciarelli, Valentina Mazzarella, Christian Benigni, Giovanni Piperno Cinematography: Giovanni Piperno Sound: Daniele De Angelis Editing: Paolo Petrucci Sound editing: Marco Furlani Line producer: Veronica Miresse Producer: Giovanni Pompili - Kino produzioni

SYNOPSIS

Christian is 21, Valentina, 17. They are together, but he is unemployed and her father isn’t too fond of him. They are expecting a baby: something that they didn’t look for. Now, they want to get married before anyone starts to notice her growing belly.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

This short, along with Truth or Dare and If I had the Words, is the fruit of the labor of Tor Sapienza Film Lab, a project of social inclusion that involved the youth of a rough neighborhood in Rome. Director Giovanni Piperno and screenwriter, Pier Paolo Piciarelli lent their talents to the project as well. “Tell us a story is what was asked of them. They were told to imagine; dialogues, places, characters, and then to interpret those aspects in front of a camera. It wasn’t easy and some strayed. Others, however, remained, had their heads in the game, and proved themselves. To talk about one’s self, to create and express a one’s own story - or whatever story one wants to tell- is a difficult journey for an adolescent, or anyone else for that matter. Above all, it’s difficult for those who grow up in difficult environments, where there is little space for projects and imagination and where the mindset is that nothing can change. The stereotype of the young people the peripheries of Rome falls, because now the peripheries become the center. As Renzo Piano said, ‘This is where one finds energy’.” Giovanni Piperno and Pier Paolo Piciarelli

ACCOLADES

Nastro d’argento Award 2016 – Best short film Capodarco Film Festival 2016 – Special Jury Award Ortigia Film Festival – Ficupala best short film award 2016 Catone Film Festival 2016 – Best fiction short film Fano Film Festival 2016 – Special Jury Award 

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