Experiencing Interruptions?

L'armée rouge (The red army)

Idrissa Koné, aka Birco Clinton, lives in an asbestos container in the eastern suburbs of Naples and has a dream: to become the king of the coupé décalé music in Europe. To be able to succeed he has created L’Armée Rouge, a band of boys from the Ivory Coast that supports him and helps him to organize his big Christmas party.

  • Luca Ciriello
    Director
    Forty Horsepower, Tales of Palavesuvio
  • Luca Ciriello
    Writer
    Forty Horsepower, Tales of Palavesuvio
  • Luca Ciriello
    Producer
    Forty Horsepower, Lost heroes
  • Antonella Di Nocera
    Producer
    Rosa Pietra Stella, Agalma, Ponticelli Terra Buona
  • Idriss Koné
    Key Cast
    "Birco Clinton"
  • Luca Ciriello
    Editing
  • Simona Infante
    Editing
  • Filippo Maria Puglia
    Sound
  • Rosalia Cecere
    Sound mix
  • Simona Infante
    Color
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    L'armée rouge
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour
  • Completion Date:
    November 15, 2020
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Country of Filming:
    Italy
  • Language:
    French, Other
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • Festival dei Popoli
    Firenze
    Italy
    November 20, 2020
    Italian Premiere
    Italian Competition
  • Laceno D'Oro
    Avellino
    Italy
    December 6, 2020
    Campania Regional Premiere
Director Biography - Luca Ciriello

Luca Ciriello (1988) graduates in Modern Literature. From June 2015 to June 2016 he works as reporter in Tanzania.
In 2016 he completes the Cinema Specialization Course of Pigrecoemme Cinema School in Naples. In 2017 he works as camera operator, editor and colorist assistant for RAI television newscasts and, thanks to the Cultura Crea call of MiBACT, he founds the video production company Lunia Film Srls of which he is the sole administrator.
In 2018 he studies documentary cinema at FilmAp Real Cinema Atelier in Ponticelli (Naples) and his first short film is out, "Racconti dal Palavesuvio" ("Tales from Palavesuvio", special mention at Lucania Film Festival and Festival dell’Isola di Roma Mamma Roma).
In 2020 he produces his first film, a historical short film called "Eroi Perduti (Lost Heroes)". In September 2020 he participates in the Giornate degli Autori (as part of the 77th Venice Film Festival) with the short documentary "Quaranta cavalli (Forty Horsepower")(Laguna Sud Award) and at the 61st Festival dei Popoli with the documentary "L'armée rouge" (produced by Parallelo 41 and Lunia Film).
He speaks Italian, Spanish, English, French, Portuguese and Swahili.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I’ve met the boys of the Ivorian community of Naples during a research carried out within the Atelier di Cinema del Reale di Ponticelli (FILMaP), later I spent one year together with Birco and his friends and for two months I went to live in the multicultural district of Vasto, where Birco spends his days and organizes the parties.
The story of Birco is mainly the story of a man who wants to turn his dream into reality, with determination and inventiveness, a 27-year-old boy whose models are the proponents of the Ivorian coupé décalé born in Paris in the early 2000s. The film's focus is on the present and the future, I have decided to tell only little about Birco's past, its story begins with the creation of the Armée Rouge, the group of “show guerrillas” who organize parties to the rhythm of coupé décalé.
My narrative point of view starts from a perspective of observation from within the Ivorian community, a linguistic and anthropological approach in a film where four languages are spoken (Nouchi, Djoula, French and Italian), which tries to reveal mechanisms and structures of a group of people that few know or frequent, a film set in an unseen Naples, made up of basements transformed into discos and containers transformed into houses.
I believe that the camera's eye can be close to the characters' gaze after so many months of observation and sharing, but also thanks to the linguistic approach. Speaking French and understanding nouchi (Ivorian argot), I had long chats with Birco and his friends, staying on the street with them, observing people, joking and sharing moments of our days. Through a gradual process of trust and acquaintance, I began to make the first research and studio shots. This period lasted about a year. When I decided to film to make "L'armée rouge" I felt that the trust between us was strong and consequently I chose not to give indications of actions to the characters, rather following the flow of events and inserting my point of seen between the plots of their lives.