The Virgin of Palermo
Die Jungfrau von PalermoGERMANY, ITALY / 2005 / Italian / B&W / 35mm (1:1.66) / 82 min
Director, Script: Antonio Guidi
Photography: Sudheer Palsane
Editing: Ulrike Tortora
Sound: Has Swinkels, Marc Meusinger
Music: Original music of Compagnia Ditirammu
Head of Production: Carolin Dassel
Line Producer: Nathalie Gräfin Lambsdorff
Production Company, Source: Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München
The Italian city of Palermo in northwestern Sicily is home to people of differing cultures and religions. July’s lively Santa Rosalia Festival celebrates the town’s patron saint who is said to have saved Palermo from the plague in the 17th century. Faith and tradition are rooted in the entire town, and are passed down even today. The elegant cityscape and the cheerful faces are accompanied by graceful music in this black and white film. The richness of the local culture at the heart of this vibrant festival will captivate the heart.
[Director’s Statement]
Memories
These of a small child
That listens to his parents
Memories
In black and white
The 40s, 50s, 60s
Memories
A little village close to Rome
The earth, the sun
The war
Poverty and Richness
Memories
Santa Rosalia in Palermo
In the streets, the faces
In the alleys, the stories
Black and white
The stories of my 80 year old parents, take shape in the streets of Palermo.
The story of Santa Rosalia was searching for someone, who could narrate it, and found us, who loved her sons and their stories.
No, I didn’t search for this story, but instead she has found me.
She came from far away, I don’t know how.
Yes, a sunny afternoon in July.
In the vast and hot streets in the center of Palermo.
A breeze,
A piece of paper that flies with it,
An image.
A memory.
Born 1964 near Rome, Italy, Antonio Guidi studied tropical and subtropical agriculture at the University of Florence from 1983–86, at the Istituto Superiore die Fotografia, Rome from 1988–90, received professional training for director of photography at the School for Movie and Television, Region Latio, Rome from 1990–91, and has studied at the Munich Academy for Television and Film from 1993–2005. Antonio has worked as a freelance photographer for various Italian newspapers since 1987, as an actor in films and performances, as a director, photographer and cutter. Works include Perdido (1991), Il Cerchio (1994), Pier Paolo, Gigion e Gli Altri (1995), Mitosis (1996), Prapto (1997) and Wenn Worte Fehlen (2000–01 TV broadcast). He also worked as director of photography on Das Gute im Menschen (1994), Terremoto (1997), Alles Wieder Still (1998), Freibad (1999) and Battle and Poetry (2004). |