A Sicilian woman is arrested in the outskirts of Milan, accused of obliging her ten-year-old child Rosetta to become a prostitute. Antonio (Lo Verso), a young Calabrian carabiniere, has to escort the little girl and her little brother Luciano to an orphanage in Civitavecchia, which however does not accept them. The journey continues to an institute in Sicily, passing through Rome and a village in Calabria, where the carabiniere was born, a haven of peace in a degraded landscape. Once in Sicily, the three stay in a little hotel, where the girl vainly asks the carabiniere’s permission to get away. In the morning, they take a bath and proceed to Noto together with two French tourists who ask them for a lift. Once arrived, Antonio catches a bagsnatcher in front of the magnificent baroque cathedral, but then he himself risks getting into trouble, because he has been taking around two underage people for three days. The police commissioner warns him, but lets him go. The end of the journey is in Gela, the farthest corner of the island, where an institute is waiting for the children. Antonio falls asleep (or pretends to) to allow them to escape, but when dawn comes, Rosetta and Luciano are there, along the roadside. A spare, moving but not comforting film: a southbound journey between hope and despair.

Gianni Amelio

He was born in San Pietro Magisano (in the province of Catanzaro) in 1945. His father leaves his family soon after his birth to move to Argentina, and Amelio grows up with his maternal grandmother. Indeed, the figure of his father is fundamental in his poetics: distant, lost, marked by conflict. He graduates in Philosophy from the University of Messina, and begins writing articles on cinema in the magazine of Catania “Giovane critica”. In the 60s he works as assistant director (also with De Seta). His debut is in 1970, with the experimental film La fine del gioco for the Italian RAI TV. In 1973 he directs La città del sole, dedicated to the Renaissance philosopher Tommaso Campanella. In 1978 the detective film La morte al lavoro wins the FIPRESCI Award at the Locarno Film Festival. With Colpire al cuore (Venice 1982), he directs an extraordinary film on terrorism, from the perspective of a father/son relationship. Meanwhile Amelio teaches at the Experimental Centre of Cinematography. He directs the TV film I ragazzi di via Panisperna (1988). Porte aperte dates back to 1990 and is based on the homonymous novel by Sciascia. In 1992 he directs Il ladro di bambini, awarded in Cannes. Lamerica (1994) dwells on the Albanian migration from the perspective of an “orphan” country. Così ridevano portrays the relationship of two Sicilian brothers migrated to Turin during the 50s (Golden Lion in Venice 1998), and Le chiavi di casa (2004) dwells on the difficult relationship between a father and his disabled son.