Quinzaine - L'Isola
- Costanza Quatriglio’s first film mixes fact with fiction and fable with a sentimental education
After Emanuele Crialese’s Respiro, which won Critics' Week last year, the blue sea of Sicily is once again the protagonist of another directorial debut, that of Costanza Quatriglio with L’isola, screened in “Directors’ Fortnight”.
The story follows a year in the lives of Teresa and Turi, the 10 and 14-year-old children of a fisherman. The film follows their adolescence against the backdrop of everyday life in this fishing village where fable blends perfectly with the protagonists’ sentimental education as does Quatriglio’s decision to combine a documentary style with fiction. The documentary aspects of the film are largely autobiographical. Quatriglio, who graduated from the National Film School and went on to make a number of short films that did the rounds at numerous festivals, calls this film “an invented documentary.”
Made six months ago on location on Favignana, L’isola has a cast of largely amateurs with a few familiar face like that of Marcello Mazzarella and Erri De Luca. The film was produced by Dream Film with funds from the Italian ministry for culture, and Rai Cinema and is scheduled for release in Italy on 30 May, by courtesy of Istituto Luce.
(Translated from Italian)
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