info - Abilis

PROGEDA
presents
BREATHLESS
S
E
N
Z
A
F
directed by
Raffaele Verzillo
screenply by
Pier Francesco Corona
I
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T
O
SUBJECT
Life is a race.
Compromised by the fragility of the human condition, the crisis of the current historic
moment, the contempt for entire generations. A race that, despite everything, never stops.
That, though exhausted and breathless, though tempted by the desire to stop, finds the
strength and motivation to go on. So that, like in a relentless relay race, new life may begin
its race.
Matteo is 45 years old.
He is a lost soul, defeated by life and by a country that has killed his generation denying
them the conditions, opportunities, dreams that men and women of a civil society have the
right to when they make their choices and when they realise themselves. Along with many
others like him, Matteo has found himself with no ideals, no ideologies, no chance to see his
skills realised and that form of life that he would have liked to build materialised.
He has no more hopes. So he decides to leave. But not his country. No. He wants to leave his
life. He has no more reasons to stay. No more causes for going on. He doesn't see them.
Right when he tries to put his intention into action, however, he has a doubt:
- And what if there were a reason for staying but I can't see it?
So, before going, perhaps due to a silly hesitation, with the dramatic condition
of being unfit both to the difficulty of life and to the courage of death, he asks the people
close to him if there is something that he has not considered, something he can't see. He
asks the others for a reason to stay, to not kill himself.
The first he asks this terrible question to is his brother Michele. Then his ex.
Then a friend. Then the daughter of this friend, child of another generation. He puts each one
before the mirror and discovers the fragility, the narrow-mindedness, the drama of other
dull, sick, disenchanted existences, overwhelmed by life and the crisis of an era which
amplifies all difficulties. The resulting picture is a country stolen by the criminal
administration of the last 30 years, suffocated by a violent crisis where the young
generations have the need and, perhaps, the time to hope for improvement. But where fortyand fifty-year-olds can only ascertain their defeat and watch with angry impotence a train
which has long gone by, the foul-smelling accumulation of unrealised dreams, penalising
injustices, projects which have failed almost always not due to their own fault. They can only
try to give a sense to what remains of their life mostly depending on what will come.
This film project originates from the specific need to set in the province of Caserta a story
which is different from the usual camorra and criminal happenings which are all over the
media lately. We want to depict a province which is not only devastated by crime and
polluting "fires" but also populated by everyday life stories where people experience stories
common to all the other people in the world.
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
BREATHLESS is a story about normal people who deal with their weaknesses and defeats
suffered during a life undermined by the crisis and by the bad governing which over the
past 25 years has characterised Italy.
The project is a point of view of a territory rich in resources and professional skills which
all have the potential to become a point of reference for the cinema and fiction industry,
which is today increasingly in search of new sceneries and contexts for setting stories and
TV series.
The film, produced by a Campania company, makes use of the workers and technicians
mostly connected to the province of Caserta. It is set between Capua, Santa Maria Capua
Vetere and Caserta and most of the actors are from the same territory.
BREATHLESS, thanks to the top-class cast which accepted to take part, aims to participate
in the most important film festivals in Italy and Europe and, as the Mayors of the
municipalities involved in the filming have already been told, it could become a chance to
promote the territory and the companies which are present there.
We would like to thank all those who have supported our film project SENZA FIATO up until
now, underlining how the culture and the territory, in such a difficult moment for our
province and our country, can represent an excellent vehicle for creating new chances of
entrepreneurship and launching the Caserta territory.
CREW
DIRECTOR:
SCREENPLAY:
PRODUCTION:
PHOTOGRAFY:
EDIT:
MUSIC:
COSTUMES:
SCENOGRAPHY:
SOUND:
CASTING:
TECHNICAL NOTES
ITALY 2015
B/W
Dolby 5.1
Lenght 87’
Copyright PROGEDA
All right reserved
Raffaele VERZILLO
Pier Francesco CORONA
Marco VERZILLO for Progeda srl
Rocco MARRA
Maria IOVINE
Fabio VERZILLO
Rossella APREA
Fabio GALVAGNO
Luca RANIERI
Rita FORZANO
DIRECTOR
SCREENPLAYER
raffaele verzillo
pier francesco corona
Originally from Santa Maria Capua Vetere. This is
his fourth time as film director. After starting out
with animanera, he directed 100 metri dal
paradiso (which he received a nomination at the
Nastri D’Argento for best subject) and Massimo,
Il mio cinema secondo me, a documentary which
tells the story of director and author Massimo
Troisi.
Connected by a strong professional association
with Raffaele Verzillo, he is the co-author of the
subject and the script of three previous works of
the director: animanera, 100 metri dal paradiso
(which the two were candidated at the Nastri
D’Argento for best subject) and Massimo, il mio
cinema secondo me.
CAST
MICHELE – fortunato cerlino
After a long theatre career he has begun working
in the cinema. Some of his most important works are:
Fortapash. Il caso Siani. Director Marco Risi (2008).
Gomorrah. Director Matteo Garrone (2007). Lascia perdere
Johnny. Director Fabrizio Bentivoglio (2006). Ribelli per
caso. Director Vincenzo Terracciano (2000). In television
he has taken part in Il clan dei camorristi, directed by
Alessandro Angelini / Alexis Sweet (2011). Distretto di
Polizia 10 (2010), Ris 6 (2009). La mia casa è piena di
specchi. Director V. Sindoni (2009). Distretto di Polizia 9.
Director Alberto Ferrari (2009) and Gomorrah – La serie first season – directed by Stefano Sollima, Claudio
Cupellini and Francesca Comencini (2014) where he
played the role of Pietro Savastano. He has recently been
asked to play the role of inspector Pazzi in the tv series
Hannibal, produced by the US network NBC.
LUCIANA – francesca neri
She has been acting since 1987, but she had her break
in 1990 with Le età di Lulù (The ages of Lulù). In
1991 she was the female star of Pensavo fosse amore...
invece era un calesse (I thought it was love, but it was a
barouche) by Massimo Troisi which earned her the
Nastro d'Argento. A number of successes followed such
as Al lupo, al lupo by Carlo Verdone, Sud by Gabriele
Salvatores and Spara che ti passa (¡Dispara!) with
Antonio Banderas and directed by Carlos Saura. In 2000,
she worked with several American productions, such as
Hannibal by Ridley Scott and Collateral damage by
Andrew David alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. She
won another Nastro d'Argento for Il papà di Giovanna
(Giovanna's Father) by Pupi Avati.
MATTEO – antonio friello
He began as theatre actor and shortly after began to
work in the cinema and in television. One of his most
interesting works is his starring role in the
film animanera (2006) by Raffaele Verzillo. He has taken
part in several tv series such as: Per amore del mio
popolo e Don Diana, directed by Antonio Frazzi, Il
restauratore, directed by Enrico Oldoini and Rex 5,
directed by Andrea Costantini. He continues to act on the
stage where we find him in: Uomini sull’orlo di una crisi
di nervi directed by Luigi Russo and L’oro di Napoli
directed by Armando Pugliese. Lately he has returned to
the cinema in two Salvatore Vitiello films Blody Rhyme
and Reality News and I fiori del male by Claver Salizzato.
PROGEDA SRL PRODUCTION
Via Melorio 36 – 81055
SANTA MARIA CAPUA VETERE - CASERTA – ITALY
Telephone: +39 823 812192
Email: info@progeda.it
Producer: Mr. MARCO VERZILLO
USA & CANADA DISTRIBUTION
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