Alessandro Di Rienzo (director of “Ist’imariyah”, prize-winner at the 2006 PriMed) and Luca Manunza (media activist who has worked on environmental issues in Campania, and social movements in Turkey) are wrapped up in a documentary subject set in the luminous, yet darkly threatening south of Italy. The focus is an elderly former mayor, Mario Luise.
Having read Luise’s biographical book “Dal fiume al mare” (Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 2001), Alessandro and Luca felt they had to meet and get to know the author. Luise had been mayor of Castel Volturno (Caserta) for two terms during the seventies and eighties, a very difficult period in the town’s history, with the region in the grip of a fever to build vast blocks of hotels and blanket the coast in concrete. As mayor he had spent his political life fighting property speculators, the Neapolitan mafia (Camorra) and the pervading political and moral hopelessness.
The idea germinated and became an urgent need to make Luise’s story more widely known. He was a role model for all those unsung heroes trying to preserve the Mediterranean’s natural resources. With the artistic team gathered round a table developing the idea into a film – “Il Sindaco” (The Mayor) – there remains the major problem facing every producer: where to find the finance to bring the documentary to life. Finance, sponsorships, co-productions – just some of the ways Alessandro and his team are looking at to get the film made.
If you would like to support this project, or if you are interested in helping, do not hesitate to send an email to Valentina Turri: valentina.turri@gmail.com
