Private Project

LIGHTNESS

Calenzano, near Florence. October 2016. Andrea moves to his grandparents' house in Via Don Minzoni n.6, to help them during their daily life. Andrea's grandma Anna has been showing the first symptoms of dementia; the whole family takes care of her and her husband Rino, who does not seem to notice his wife's problems. Old family pictures, videos, interviews with the two sons Marco and Matteo bring us into the world of Andrea's family that comes in support of Anna, dealing with the illness through the typical Tuscan irony. But it is quite hard for the family to take care of every single thing that Anna is no longer able to do: shopping, cooking, buying medicine and paying the bills. Andrea observes everything from the inside, living close to her: memory loss of his grandmother, the anger of his grandfather, who does not understand his wife's illness and violently refuses the presence of Andrea in his house. Last but not least, Marco's outbursts, who carries the whole situation on his shoulders.
The combination of different camera formats - video, film shoots and smartphone videos - intertwines with Anna's feelings and her fragmented memory, which day by day keeps getting worse.

  • Andrea Caciagli
    Director
  • Andrea Caciagli
    Writer
  • Laura Catalano
    Producer
  • Anna Volpi
    Key Cast
  • Rino Caciagli
    Key Cast
  • Marco Caciagli
    Key Cast
  • Andrea Caciagli
    Key Cast
  • Matteo Caciagli
    Key Cast
  • Giuseppe Pignone
    DOP
  • Emanuele Fiorito
    Editor
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    LA LEGGEREZZA
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 32 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 5, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Country of Filming:
    Italy
  • Language:
    Italian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Andrea Caciagli

Andrea Caciagli was born in Fiesole (Florence) in 1991. He works as director, assistant director, journalist and film critic in Florence and Rome. He is chief editor of cultural and film magazines L'Eco del Nulla and Duemilauno and he is artistic director of Firenze RiVista, magazine and book festival founded in 2015. Andrea directed the short film Origami (2012), the documentary La Bussola (2022) and his first feature film Via Don Minzoni N.6 (2023, in distribution).

Andrea Caciagli è nato a Fiesole nel 1991. Lavora e scrive di cinema tra Firenze e Roma, tra il lavoro come regista e assistente alla regia e quello di direttore delle riviste di approfondimento culturale e visuale "L’Eco del Nulla" e "Duemilauno". Dal 2015 è fondatore e direttore del festival Firenze RiVista. Ha diretto il cortometraggio ORIGAMI (2012), il documentario LA BUSSOLA (2022) e VIA DON MINZONI N.6 (2023), il suo primo lungometraggio. LA LEGGEREZZA (2024) è un documentario autobiografico.

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Director Statement

ENG
Fading is a documentary about memory and how it defines us. Shooting Anna, my Grandmother, means letting her tell all the things she remembers about her life before the illness, before they get lost forever. Too late. Therefore, I have chosen the only possible way: telling about my Grandma in the moment I am shooting her, day by day, comparing her present and her past through old pictures, old family footage of when she was healthy, in order to put all her memory fragments together, for her.

ITA
Fading è un film sulla memoria e su come questa definisce chi siamo. Filmo Anna, mia nonna, per farle raccontare le cose che ricorda della sua vita prima della malattia, prima che andassero perdute per sempre. Troppo tardi. Ho scelto l’unica strada ancora aperta: raccontare chi è mia nonna nell’esatto momento in cui la filmo, giorno per giorno, mettendo a confronto il suo presente e il suo passato, attraverso vecchie fotografie della sua gioventù e le riprese di quando era in salute, nel tentativo di riassemblare quei frammenti al suo posto.