Rai Cinema and Rai Teche present (LIKE MY FATHER) directed by Stefano Mordini film press office VIVIANA RONZITTI Via Domenichino 4. 00184 ROME ITALY 06 4819524 / +39 333 2393414 ronzitti@fastwebnet.it www.kinorama.it 1
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. technical crew a documentary by MICHELE ASTORI and STEFANO MORDINI directed by STEFANO MORDINI photography DARIA D ANTONIO editing CRISTINA FLAMINI (a.m.c.) consultancy for archival footage RICCARDO LACCHÈ original music ENZO CASUCCI live sound recording EMANUELE CECERE sound editing DANIELA BASSANI STEFANO GROSSO production coordinator KARIN ANNELL production administrator HANNA BUHL Teche Rai research GIANCARLO BIONDI LAURA DEMETRI music consultant FRANCESCA ALBANO editing assistant BEPPE LEONETTI (a.m.c.) production organizer PAOLO RIVIECCIO a RAI CINEMA production in collaboration with RAI TECHE made by OFFSIDE year of production 2009 nationality ITALIAN length 74 3
. synopsis Fatherhood in Italy told from the viewpoint of the offspring. Or: how the father figure has evolved in the history of our country and in the lives of millions of Italian families. The accounts collected from the 1950s up to the present time follow each other, add together, and together make up an intimate portrait of fatherhood. Fathers are described in their strengths and their weaknesses, in their silence and in their sometimes heroic attempts to avoid disappointing their children s love. A long journey through sixty years of Italian life, comparing understandings, conflicts, disappointments, betrayals, and inevitable requests for attention and help. Children grow up and in turn discover the experience of fatherhood: at that moment when everything appears unknown, they can only rely on that father model, often contested, but always unique. 4
. notes Seeking to understand the nature of a relationship that is difficult to describe in a filmed summary, we sought and met with the children of today, listened to them as they described their fathers, and in part were reassured by them, because we recognized ourselves in their simplicity and honesty. Our questions of yesterday are the same as today s. Michele Astori and Stefano Mordini 5
STEFANO MORDINI In 1990 he begins working first as a producer and then as a director of documentaries. His films win a number of awards in the chief Italian and international festivals, and in 1996 he takes part in Venice with the short I Ladri. In 2000 he makes Paz 77 and later makes a series of documentaries on the subject of globalization, including L allievo modello (2002), selected at the Independent Film Festival of Buenos Aires. In 2004 he writes and directs his first feature-length film, Provincia meccanica, which is presented in the competition at the 55 th Festival of Berlin. In 2007 he produces and directs Il Confine, a documentary on the Milanese Islamic communities. Since 2002 he has been teaching the degree course Scrivere per il cinema at the IULM University of Milan. He is a fan of Charles Mingus and cycling. MICHELE ASTORI A television writer of analysis and history programs. Among his main works are Altra Storia, Passato prossimo: Gli zoo di Berlino, Storia Proibita del novecento italiano and Complotti. He wrote, together with Francesca Comencini, the documentary In fabbrica (winner of the Cipputi Prize at the 25 th Torino Film Festival). 6
OFFSIDE Founded in 2001, Mario Gianani and Saverio Costanzo s Offside was initially devoted to the production of documentaries and historic programs for television. In 2004, with the debut in movie theatres of Saverio Costanzo s first feature-length film, Private, Offside started to focus on the filmmaking activity. Private was one of the most awarded Italian films in recent years, winning the Pardo d Oro at the Festival of Locarno, the David di Donatello, and the Nastro d Argento. It was selected for the 2005 Oscars, but was later rejected for not being sufficiently Italian. Private was distributed in forty countries. Between 2006 and 2007, Offside produced Saverio Costanzo s second feature film, In Memoria di Me. The film took part in the official competition at the 2007 Berlinale and was distributed in over thirty countries, participating in numerous international festivals. In 2007 Offside also produced two documentaries: Francesca Comencini s In fabbrica, presented at the 2007 Torino Film Festival, where it also won the Cipputi Prize, and Saverio Costanzo s Auschwitz 2006, presented at the 2007 Rome Film Festival. In 2008 Offside produced Vincere, the new film by Marco Bellocchio, coproduced with Rai Cinema and Celluloid Dreams. The film was distributed in movie theatres from May 2009. In 2009 the company produced, together with Rai Cinema, the documentary Come mio padre by Stefano Mordini, which will be presented out of competition at the 27 th Torino Film Festival in the Festa Mobile section, and the documentary Vittime, directed by Giovanna Gagliardo and produced in collaboration with Rai Cinema and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. Between 2009 and 2010, Offside is producing the film La solitudine dei numeri primi, based on the bestselling novel by the same name by Paolo Giordano, directed by Saverio Costanzo. 7
2010 is also the year for Offside s production of the first work, Io confesso, by director Graziano Conversano and development of Contro tutto il resto del mondo by Andrea Jublin (nominated for an Oscar in 2007 for the film short Il Supplente), freely inspired by Andrea Bajani s book Domani niente scuola. 8