In the shadow of earthquakes which have devastated several parts of Italy, this poignant tale is centered around the last remaining inhabitant of a town destroyed by this natural disaster.
Elia (Sergio Rubini) has no intention of leaving his ghost town of Providence which was struck by an earthquake years earlier. While he spends his days in the company of the memories of his wife and his idyllic past life, the rest of the population has moved downstream into the new community housing. Every so often, someone comes to visit him: the local teacher, his friend Gesualdo, and the mayor. But it is a different and wholly unexpected presence which begins to turn Elia’s solitary life upside-down.
Warmly embraced by audiences at its Venice International Film Festival screening, this topical film sensitively uses the fight of its protagonist to keep his town’s memory alive to implore us also not to forget.
Director
Pippo Mezzapesa
Pippo Mezzapesa, born in 1980, is an Italian screen-writer and director. He graduated with a degree in classical studies and law from l’Università degli Studi di Bari, before moving into film production. He has directed and written a number of successful documentaries, short and feature films, including the documentary Pinuccio Lovero – Yes I Can (2014), which was selected for competition at Rome International Film Festival.