IL VARCO - ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH
In 1941, an Italian soldier is leaving for the Soviet front. The Fascist army is allied with the Nazi war machine. Victory seems close. The convoy moves forward, men are singing and hopeful. The soldier’s mind goes back to the melancholic fairy tales his Russian mother told him. Unlike his younger companions, he has already been to war, in Africa, and he fears it. The train crosses Europe, reaching the interminable expanses of the Ukrainian plains. As winter arrives, enthusiasm wanes under the first mortar shells, the cold and the snow. The most heartfelt desire is no longer victory, but rather a warm bed, food, and to go back home. The immense wind ravaged steppe seems to be inhabited by ghosts.
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Federico FerroneDirectorThe Train to Moscow
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Michele ManzoliniDirectorThe Train to Moscow
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Federico FerroneWriterThe Train to Moscow
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Michele ManzoliniWriterThe Train to Moscow, Stories of the Half-Light
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Wu Ming 2WriterFormato Ridotto, The Man with the Lantern
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Claudio GiapponesiProducerAnita, The Train to Moscow, A Noble Revolution, Circle, The Prince of Ostia Bronx, The Man with The Lantern, Stories of the Half-Light
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Emidio ClementiKey Cast"Unknown Soldier"
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Simonluca LaitempergherMusicThe Man with The Lantern, Stories of the Half-Light
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Andrea VaccariDOPIl vento fa il suo giro, Stories of the Half-Light
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Maria Fantastica ValmoriEditingCamorra, Diva!, Montedoro, Zeta
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Project Title (Original Language):IL VARCO
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Project Type:Documentary, Experimental, Feature
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Genres:History, Drama, Archive
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Runtime:1 hour 10 minutes
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Completion Date:September 1, 2019
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Production Budget:250,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Italy
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Country of Filming:Italy, Russian Federation, Ukraine
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Language:Italian, Russian
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Shooting Format:HD + 9,5mm + 16mm + 8mm + Super8
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Black & White and Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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76° Mostra Internazionale d'arte cinematografica di VeneziaVenezia
Italy
September 3, 2019
World
Sconfini -
13° Salida Doc FestSalina
Italy
September 12, 2019
Regional
Concorso Internazionale SDF XIII “(R)ESISTENZE” -
37° Annecy cinèma italienAnnecy
France
September 24, 2019
France
Jury Special Mention -
24° Ji.hlava International Documentary Film FestivalJihlava
Czech Republic
October 25, 2019
Czech
Opus Bonum
Distribution Information
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Istituto Luce CinecittàCountry: ItalyRights: Theatrical
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RAI CinemaCountry: ItalyRights: Free TV
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Slingshot FilmCountry: WorldwideRights: All Rights
Federico Ferrone (Florence, 13 August 1981) and Michele Manzolini (Sondrio, 7 May 1980) have worked together since 2007. Their work is focused on the creative use of found footage in films at the crossroads between archive, documentary and fiction. Their films have been selected, among others, at the Karlovy Vary, Visions du Réel and DocLisboa film festivals. Their latest film The Train to Moscow was presented in competition at the 31st Torino Film Festival.
Il varco is a work of fiction made with both official and amateur archive material. It is the subjective account of a soldier involved in the Italian campaign in Russia during WWII. The film, as well as the footage it is made from, is populated by presences. As the war becomes more desperate, ghosts wander the Ukrainian steppe in ever increasing numbers. Memories haunt the protagonist’s mind, taking him back to the horrors of Italy’s colonial war. And finally fragments of a war yet to come, one being fought in Ukraine today, in the very same places. Present and past run on parallel tracks, which get closer and eventually merge. As if the wounds of over 70 years had never healed.