29/07/2024 - From the brilliant cyclist who helped Jews during the Nazi occupation of Italy to modern-day Jerusalem, Enrico Paolantoni’s animation teaches children all about peace

“Without solidarity, sport would be meaningless”. It’s an affirmation which might sound rhetorical in light of the current Olympic Games, which are unfolding in the deserted though police-reinforced city of Paris amidst suspicions of doping, British divers posting on Onlyfans, 300,000 condoms being offered to athletes, and the anti-sex cardboard beds in operation. But it nonetheless rings true, especially in Enrico Paolantonio’s animated movie Bartali’s Bicycle, which is hitting Italian cinemas on 1 August via Lynx, following its screening in the specialist children’s film festival, Giffoni.

The person uttering this phrase in the film is Gino Bartali, one of the greatest riders in Italy and anywhere else in the world, who won two Tour de France races in 1938 and ‘48. Bartali was declared “A righteous person between nations” by the National Body for Holocaust Remembrance, because he transported fake documents inside of his bicycle to help Jews obtain new identities during the German occupation of Italy. Israel Cesare Moscati (who passed away in 2019 and to whom the film is dedicated) developed the screenplay - penned alongside Marco Beretta - around this fact, but Bartali’s Bicycle isn’t a film limited to the confines of Italian history. From a production viewpoint, the project involved European and Asian teams who devised an adventure story based upon that bicycle - the so-called "Bartala", symbolic of opposition to Nazi-fascist barbarity – which carries on 60 years later in Jerusalem, where young Israeli-Jewish cyclist David makes friends with an Israeli Muslim from the opposing team called Ibrahim. They both dream of winning a cycling championship, potentially by breaking the rules but ultimately bringing harmony and tolerance between their communities.

The film explores two distinct timelines: Bartali’s missions in Second-World-War Florence and the story of two modern teens who fight ancient prejudice in the name of their passion for cycling and of solidarity and friendship. Given the disastrous state of the Israel-Palestine conflict, born out of the attack on 7 October 2023 and now reaching its limits, this film aimed at children eight years old and upwards could prove a sound basis for educational reflection on mutual respect and sacrifice. As the director has stressed, the two protagonists’ stories “becomes an invitation to overcome divisions and embrace the universal nature of friendship”.

Drawn by Corrado Mastantuono, the characters move against Andrea Pucci’s backdrops (of which there are over 1,000), which are set apart by pastel colours enhanced by a palette of sharp and evocative hues, and with nuances which distinguish the settings of Florence and Assisi in the ‘40s from modern-day Jerusalem. The film’s 2D digital animation (involving Toon Boom Harmony, Moho and After Effects) is crisp and decisive, and boasts the “universal” gestures and expressiveness to which children are accustomed as frequent consumers of TV programmes, despite the rigour and profundity of the subject in hand. Marcello de Toffoli’s music combines electronic sounds with a string ensemble, recorded live in order to create recognisable themes, while internationally renowned Israeli artist Noa is both the author and performer of the closing track, which she wrote and arranged with Gil Dor.

The very fact that Italian firm Lynx is co-operating with Irish studio Telegael and with Indian group Toonz Media Group - a media powerhouse which tends to collaborate with Marvel, Disney, Netflix, Dreamworks, Sony, Universal, Amazon, Google and Hulu – shows a shared desire to help work towards dialogue and peace. Bartali’s Bicycle, which is also co-produced by RAI Kids, is a laudable project which can aspire to limited theatrical distribution, circulation among festivals dedicated to younger audiences, but, first and foremost, distribution across global television networks.

International distribution is entrusted to TVCO and Toonz Entertainment.

(Translated from Italian)