Private Project

WITH OUR OWN HANDS

"WITH OUR OWN HANDS" is the story of a couple affected by polio who despite the difficulties and physical impossibility help and compensate each other, overcoming the adversities that have always stood before them. The story of Anna and Giovanni is exemplary for all the people who are in difficulty because of disability, especially because of what these disabilities create on a social level and in relationships with others.
"WITH OUR OWN HANDS" is a story of barriers and limits exceeded, this is the point of the documentary, showing the couple's daily life and how this everyday life is shaken to fulfill their desire to make a trip to Bosa, the country where Giovanni was born, again.

  • Luca Melis
    Producer
  • Emanuel Cossu
    Director
  • Giovanni Cossu
    Key Cast
  • Anna Maria Loi
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    CON LE NOSTRE MANI
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Biopic, Social
  • Runtime:
    51 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 30, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Country of Filming:
    Italy
  • Language:
    Italian
  • Shooting Format:
    digital 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39.1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Emanuel Cossu

Emanuel Cossu was born in Cagliari in 1984. After the graduation in Modern Literature he moves to Barcelona where he got a degree in Cinematographic Direction. In 2012 he move to Bologna to obtain a Master in Writing for Cinema and Tv by Giffoni Academy and, in 2014, the master's degree in Film Semiotics.
Now he live in Cagliari where work as director and author.

DIRECTOR'S FILMOGRAPHY (as director and screenwriter)
- PEEPING NICHOLAS (11 min; short, fiction) screenwriter, director - LIBRERIE MUSICALI (40 sec; video promo) screenwriter, director - THE DANCEFLOOR STOMPERS – ADRAMELEK 2000 (5 min; videoclip) director 2017)
- SHOOTING STOMPERS (45min approx; doc -in postproduction) director 2016)
- LOS MUERTOS (1:20h, feature film) script consultant
Candidate by Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias cinematogràficas to represent Mexico at Premios Goya 2017 (ES) and Academy Oscar 2017(US)
WINNER Riviera Maya International Film Fest; Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia; Festival de Mar de Plata; Festival de Cine de Oruro; Festival de Cine de Durango;
- LIFE – La vita del parco di Molentargius (15min: docufiction) script consultant Firenze Archeofilm 2018
- THE DANCEFLOOR STOMPERS – MISSION POSSIBLE (4 min; videoclip) director 2015)
- LA MOSSA GIUSTA (13min; short, fiction) screenwriter, director
Sandalia Sustainability Film Festival 2016; Parma International Music Film Festival 2016: MedFF 2016; Los Angeles Cinefest 2016
- CIVITAS SOLIS (10min; short, fiction) screenwriter, director
Sandalia Sustainability Film Festival
- LOST IN SARDINIA (25x8min; webserie) script consulant
ARGENT European Public Communications Prize; WINNER Premio Treccani Web; WINNER Cortinametraggio 2017 premio Bayer Coltura&Cultura; Roma WebFest 2016; Sicily Web Fest 2016; Passaggi d’Autore 2016

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

As the author and director of the documentary, I find myself in a particular condition, being the son of Anna and Giovanni. This is why I am very clear about all the difficulties that Anna and Giovanni have faced and are facing on a daily basis, and also the great suffering they feel in not being able to re-embrace Bosa, Giovanni's birthplace. However, I am convinced that with the right confidence and motivation it is possible to overcome this obstacle and bring my parents back to Bosa. The work moves on two parallel tracks: I will also have to familiarize the viewer with what has always been established for me, on the other hand, I will have to stimulate the protagonists-parents to overcome their obstacle. To obtain this result, I will resume their days in preparation for shooting, accustoming them to the presence of the camera. In this preparatory phase I will try to fix those rituals and details that must find their symbolic force within the documentary with the intent of showing the value that those same details have had for the protagonists throughout a lifetime. My intention is to give a circular temporal structure to the story, from the awakening of Anna and Giovanni in the morning until they go to bed on their way back from Bosa. Starting with the protagonists in bed, you don't immediately notice them as invalid but as a normal couple in bed. In the morning, with the arrival of the light, we immediately glimpse the prams on the side of the bed and instead we see that that couple has so many difficulties, from the moment they have to get out of bed. On an expressive level we will show the domestic spaces that were first empty and then lived, in their own way, by Anna and Giovanni. The position of the camera is important, which will be placed at the height of the protagonists, i.e. at the height of a wheelchair, to let the viewer enter their way and make them participate in their point of view and their perspective. The shots will open to the outside when Giovanni and Anna take their walks and especially when they set out for Bosa. The presence of the author-son in the documentary, consistent with the fact that he has not lived in the protagonists' house for years and does not share everyday life, will be evident when he is called into question by Anna and Giovanni who, forgetting the presence of the video camera, they will question him and address him as a son present in the house with them at that time.