docu-drama | 80 minutes | DCP 2k, DigiBETA, BluRay | color 16:9

SYNOPSIS

LOGLINE

Babis means ‘toad’ in the dialect from Piedmont, and this is what the Italian immigrants in Marseille were called at the beginning of the century. There were two hundred thousand. Gianfranco, an Italian actor, and Mohamed, a French-Algerian immigrate,travel from Apulia, in Italy, to Marseille to set off in the footsteps of these immigrants.

Gianfranco had just lost his companion, who was his sparring partnerin a street show about Italian immigration.

Mohamed would simply go back to France.

During their journey, they face real difficulties, and broken dreams,a common ground that is shared by anyone leaving his/her country.

Their journey is real and yet dreamlike, it leads them through streets or on the stage of the little portable theatre, where the voices of Italian immigrants bring the lively stringless puppets.

They’re dirty, they smell, they’re bigots and beggars, thieves,scabs and murderers: they are the babis, the Italian immigrantsin Marseille.

Born in Milan in 1979. He moved to Bologna in 1998 and started working in the audio-visual field. He attended the IpotesiCinema school (founded by Ermanno Olmi) for three years. Since 2001 he has worked for the Municipality of Bologna and the Bologna Cineteca, organising various projects such as editing, filming and graphics.He worked at the same time as production manager and postproduction supervisor on Jean Francois Neplaz's docu-mentary Terre d'un homme) about the life and writings of the writer Mario Rigoni Stern, produced by Shellac Sud, Marseille.

In 2008 he founded his own production company, Seiperdue .

COMPANY PROFILESEIPERDUE was created in 2005 and operates in the audio-visual production field. It currently manage a network of many partners ranging from director, cameramen, sound technicians, editors, photographers, graphic designers and production managers. The company works with the private sector (Danone Corporate, Generali Group, Asteria Multimedia Trento, Art Project Milano, Studio COP Milano, MC Architects Bologna, Ducati Motors, Art Project Milano, BolognaFiere, Fiera di Milano, Fondazione del Monte) and public institutions (Comune di Bologna, Provincia di Torino, Cineteca di Bologna, Consorsio CER, Biennale di Venezia).

Between 2011-2013 SEIPERDUE realize its first feature film, titled BABIS, a challenging intersection between documentary, stop motion and fiction, shooted between Italy and France, coproduced by the French company Baboutos and the Italian Artimedia. The film was funded in Italy by Regione Emilia Romagna, Apulia Film Commission, Del Monte Bank Foundation and in France by CNC-Centre National de Cinématographie, PACA-Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur Regioan and ACSE

In 2013 SEIPERDUE produce the short film, l’IMPRESA (the BUSINNESS), of the young director DAVIDE LABANTI.

Born in Taranto, Apulia, Gianfranco Berardi became an actor after a tragic loss: a degenerative illness affects his eyes and made him blind at 17 years old.He has worked for several theatre companies. In 2005 he won Premio Sceniario with the piece "Il Deficiente". He has worked permanently with his company "Berardi-Casolari" in many national theatres, and occasionally for Radio and Tv Shows as actor and author. His theatrical work texts are collected in a book, Viaggio per amore, published by Ubu Libri.

In BABIS He is GIANFRANCO

MAIN ACTORS

Mohamed Brikat was born in France, his parents are Algerians. He works on a regular basis as actor and school teacher for the Popular National Theatre in Lyon. He has worked for many TV Film (Interpol, Bienvenue à Bouchon, La choix de Myriam, Les Ambitieux). In 2008 he worked with Radu Mihaileanu for his last film.

In BABIS He is MOHAMED

MAIN ACTORS

DIEGO CONTIHe graduated in Salisbourg Mozartheum, with Sandor Vegh.

He plays as violin soloist in the European Chamber Orchestra,

Vicenzo Bellini Theater and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He

published many recordings with EMI, RCA, NUOVA ERA. He

travels as a musician to many countries from USA to Arabian

Emirates. Since 2002 he has started working as a composer

for chamber music orchestras and film soundtrack.

ANDREA MARTIGNONIHe graduated in Music Disciplines in Bologna.

He studied the stop motion sonorization at the National Film

Board of Canada, and he founded the Enseble Eva Kant.

He has worked with Fred Frith, John Rose, Dominique Lentin,

Paolo Angeli and Saul Saguatti. He has made shortfilms’

soundtracks for Blu and Virginio Villoresi. For RADIO TRE he

has made the radio opera A chaqu’un son Depanneur.

Born in Milan in 1979. He moved to Bologna in 1998 and started working in the audio-visual field. He attended the IpotesiCinema school (founded by Ermanno Olmi) for three years. Since 2001 he has worked for the Municipality of Bologna and the Bologna Cineteca, organising various projects such as editing, filming and graphics.He worked at the same time as production manager and postproduction supervisor on Jean Francois Neplaz's docu-mentary Terre d'un homme) about the life and writings of the writer Mario Rigoni Stern, produced by Shellac Sud, Marseille.

In 2008 he founded his own production company, Seiperdue .

COMPANY PROFILESEIPERDUE was created in 2005 and operates in the audio-visual production field. It currently manage a network of many partners ranging from director, cameramen, sound technicians, editors, photographers, graphic designers and production managers. The company works with the private sector (Danone Corporate, Generali Group, Asteria Multimedia Trento, Art Project Milano, Studio COP Milano, MC Architects Bologna, Ducati Motors, Art Project Milano, BolognaFiere, Fiera di Milano, Fondazione del Monte) and public institutions (Comune di Bologna, Provincia di Torino, Cineteca di Bologna, Consorsio CER, Biennale di Venezia).

Between 2011-2013 SEIPERDUE realize its first feature film, titled BABIS, a challenging intersection between documentary, stop motion and fiction, shooted between Italy and France, coproduced by the French company Baboutos and the Italian Artimedia. The film was funded in Italy by Regione Emilia Romagna, Apulia Film Commission, Del Monte Bank Foundation and in France by CNC-Centre National de Cinématographie, PACA-Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur Regioan and ACSE

In 2013 SEIPERDUE produce the short film, l’IMPRESA (the BUSINNESS), of the young director DAVIDE LABANTI.

NICCOLO MANZOLINI director

For almost two years we have been digging around in a buried part of Italy's past of which we previously knew very little. The mass migration of Italians at the end of the nineteenth century caused a ferocious anti-Italian backlash, particularly in the southern regions of France. The clean break which the emigrating Italians made with their country of origin caused their descendants who still live in France today to be disconnected from their past.

We collected numerous hours of audio recordings which document the testimonies of descendants of the first Italians in the Marseille area. In order to build up a repertoire of film, photographic and audio material, we also carried out research in other more official archives: the archives and libraries of the Département and the city, the INAV (Institut National de l'Audio Visuel), and the archives of private production companies.

Documenting the journey of the two actors provided the materials for the story. It's about reawakening memories, provoking debate, or simply provoking the audience, made up of French, Italians, Spanish, Arabs and Romanians, to react spontaneously. We will follow the two actors, Each show was filmed in its entirety, on the contrary the journeys between venues, and scenes about the relationship was merely fictional. We will use the fiction as an instrument to explore a com-posite society and the travelling show as materials for the fiction.

A MIXED MEDIA PROJECT

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