Benelli su Benelli

SUBJECT
Docu-film about Tonino Benelli

This docu-film explores the exciting birth of Italian motorcycling. It follows the short life of the youngest son of the Benelli family, a great man and sportsman. The Benelli family is the founder of the famous motorcycle house in Pesaro, a brand that will become legendary.

The deeds of Tonino Benelli, an affable man, a funny prankster and a reckless pilot, will be remembered through photographs, archive footage, interviews and fiction reconstructions appropriately and skilfully mixed together.

The film will show the love of a mother who firmly believed in her children's dream; it will tell the story of the brilliant older brothers who gave birth and shape to the family motorcycling passion; it will describe how every family member collaborated in building the splendid dream of “Benelli”, bringing into play their own personal talents. The birth of the brand represents a great point of honor for the Benelli’s family, for the city of Pesaro and for the entire Italian nation.

Then it will talk about the beginning of the great centaur's racing career, his races, his many victories, his disappointments, joys, bitterness and the great emotions he lived and experienced.
It will evoke the mythical character that he was and will reconstruct the birth of an avant-garde engineering company capable of forging men and technicians of value.

The spectator will relive the evocative atmosphere that pervaded the engine world of that time and they will be immersed in colors, flavors and ambiance of yesteryear.
It will retrace the life of the champion, Tonino Benelli, from his birth in 1902 to his tragic death in 1937. Moreover, it will tell the story of Italy between the two wars, when the harsh reality of the peasantry switched to the world of industrialization, hence to the dawn of the Italian motorcycle industry.

It is the era in which Marinetti's Futurists sang of audacity, danger, speed and exalted the myth of the machine, but it is also the historical period that led to Fascism and converted the same ideals into the official slogans of the regime.

However, what makes Tonino Benelli an unforgettable character is, above all, his way of being a champion, so passionate, so true, so genuine. He was a real hero for the motorcycling world of the past, a world characterized by audacity, courage, loyalty and by strong human relationships. The riders used to be simpler people and motorcycling was a less technological sport but absolutely a more romantic, and perhaps an even more authentic experience.