A wonderful movie, an heart-breaking gaze on our present

SYNOPSIS

Naples today. Giovanna, a dedicated social worker, runs a reception shelter for disadvantaged children, genuine rampart against the Camorra’s stranglehold. When young Maria, wife of a Camorra member on the run, comes to settle on the premises of the shelter with her two kids, Giovanna is confronted with a moral choice that can destroy the sense of her work.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES

In my films I have often been interested with people whose lives are dedicated to social mediation; with those people, that is, that for the position they occupy in the social geography, offer a privileged point of view to narrate a neighbourhood, a city or a society, in a given historical moment: a teacher of a school in a degraded suburb (A Scuola) or a legalist mayor in a city dominated by a mafia mentality (Prove di Stato). At the center of The Intruder we find some of the «heroes» of the contemporary world. People who, in my opinion, are little narrated, considering the social importance they have and the issues their operate raises. They are those people who, for political, religious, or simply humanistic beliefs, choose to dedicate their lives to social work; dealing with the poor and marginalized categories of our suburbs, where the coexistence with organized crime is almost the rule. I do not speak of what economists describe as «the third sector», where more and more often, unfortunately, an entrepreneurial logic prevails. What is interesting here is the underlying value system of being volunteers, belonging more often than not to spontaneous groups, frequently self-financed, and essentially born from a strong personal motivation. In addition to the sociological interest, or, if you wish, philosophical interest, what draws me towards these realities is the narrative possibilities they offer; because it is in these contexts that an idea of society can be forged, or, even more, an idea of man. I seem to find there the classical elements of narrative: the hero, the individual, the obstacles in the way of his action, the community, the ethical conflict. The screenplay was written simultaneously with a long process of research, observation and meetings with individuals and groups working in the center of Naples, or in its suburbs, where the story takes place.

The narrated story is inspired by events in part really happened: Giovanna is the founder and key figure of a recreational community center that takes care of children at risk, but not only. A safe haven and an alternative to the mafia logic of the surrounding neighborhood. A place where they try to demonstrate that forms of coexistence not based on oppression and mafia violence are possible also in that neighborhood; an island of solidarity and sharing, of mutual growth and mutual respect, in which to find hope for a different everyday life. In these “border lands” people are constantly experimenting with forms of cohabitation: limits, which elsewhere separate what is intolerable from the welcoming, what is acceptable from the unacceptable, are here constantly shifted and adjusted. But often there are resistances, which, if not justifiable, can be at least understandable.

The Intruder is a film with the Camorra in it, but not a film about the Camorra; a movie about who day by day lives with it, who day by day tries to gain ground against it, to win its people over, to gain social consensus, without being either judge nor policeman. A tale about the difficult balance to be found between fear and acceptance, between tolerance and firmness. A story that at this time I believe may also resonate with those people unfamiliar with the Camorra, but who are experiencing other forms of cohabitation with fear and mistrust. The “other”, the group outsider, who at once is perceived as dangerous, this, I believe, is a cogent theme relative to the times we live in.

BIO

Born in Ischia, he lives between Paris and Naples. He teaches at the prestigious Atelier Varan in Paris. He has directed several documentaries, which have been
both presented and awarded at major international film festivals.

FILMOGRAPHY
2014 — THE OUTPOST (Episode of the collective film: I Ponti di Sarajevo)
2012 — THE INTERVAL (L’INTERVALLO)
2011 — CADENZA D’INGANNO
2006 — ODESSA (directed with Bruno Oliviero)
2003 — A SCUOLA
1999 — PROVE DI STATO

CAST

Giovanna RAFFAELLA GIORDANO
Maria VALENTINA VANNINO
Rita MARTINA ABBATE

Sabina Anna Patierno | Mino Marcello Fonte | Giulio Gianni Vastarella | Vittorio (school director) Flavio Rizzo | Carmela (Crispello widow) Maddalena Stornaiuolo | Sessa Riccardo Veno | Claudia Emma Ferulano | Tommaso Giovanni Manna | Ciro Vittorio Gargiulo | Ernestina Alessandra Esposito | Raffaella (Ernestina’s grandmother) Flora Faliti | Patrizia (mother) Francesca Zazzera | Bianca (mother) Maria Noioso | Amato Christian Giroso | Amitrano Carmine Paternoster

INTERNATIONAL SALES