“Lo Sbarco” follows a group of female students as memory explorers and researchers of peace messages. They immerse themselves in the city of Gela, Sicily, in search of the memory preserved in the fabric of the city regarding Operation Husky, the landing of the allied troops in Gela on 10 July 1943, during the Second World War, a decisive step in the fall of first Fascism and then Nazism.
Through interviews with townspeople, witnesses of the time and historical experts, the film investigates the relationship of that event with the themes of peace and war; it delves into the impact that the war had on the town and the people, both individually and collectively; it captures and records precious memories and recollections.
Visiting symbolic sites of the fighting in the Gela plain and on the seafront, the memory explorers try to imagine what it must have been like to live in that wartime context, impersonating the inhabitants of the time and expressing what they might have felt at the time of the landing.
The film also examines how historical memory can influence the future of a city and its inhabitants, and stimulate reflection on the subject of peace and war today.
What ‘Lo Sbarco’ proposes is a journey between historical memory and contemporary life; the streets and many places in the city’s perimeter still bear the marks of the fighting in 1943. Do the people of Gela experience it as a distant, outdated, unrepeatable event? What lessons can be found from that event today? Is it possible to convey the emotion and sense of urgency regarding the need to preserve historical memory and work for peace?
“Lo Sbarco”, directed by Iacopo Patierno, author among others of the web series “Italia Sicilia Gela”, was realised with the Istituto Tecnico Tecnologico Emanuele Morselli as part of the project Gela Le Radici del Futuro, coordinated by Jacopo Fo and Bruno Patierno, with the support of Eni and the patronage of the city of Gela.
Director Biography – Iacopo Patierno
Iacopo Patierno was born in Vico Equense in 1982 and graduated from the DAMS of Bologna in 2005. He works in the film sector at an international level and has established himself as a film editor, operator, assistant director and director. His most significant experiences include: assistant director of the documentary Videocracy (Sweden 2009); director of the documentary We Call It Skweee (Sweden 2009); editing of the documentary Power to the People(Sweden 2013); filming of the television series Dai domanda! (Sweden/Italy 2015);
assistant director of the documentaries Swedish Theory Of Love(Sweden 2015) and The rebel surgeon, (Sweden 2016); director of the web series Il Teatro fa Bene(Italy 2016) prize winner as best non-fiction webseries of the year at the Festivals of Miami, Hollywood and Rome; director of the documentary Wiwanana(Italy, 2017), special mention by the jury at the Film Festival of Africa, Asia and Latin America; filming of the television series Dario Fo e Franca Rame: la nostra storia (Rai5, Italy 2017); director of three seasons of the web seriesItalia Sicilia Gela (Italy, 2019-2021); director of the documentary Man Kind Man (2022); director of the documentary Due ma non due (2021). His works have been shown in the main international festivals and have won numerous awards. He has been Director of the video area of the online magazine www.peopleforplanet.it(Italy, 2018-2020)
Interview
| Iacopo Patierno Director, Writer Jacopo Fo Film Producer |
