05/09/2008

In December 2007, an accident at the ThyssenKrupp industrial plant in Turin left seven men dead and an entire nation in a state of shock. Because the factory would soon close for good, safety measures were minimal at the time of the explosion.

Barely a year later, two documentary films about the incident are shown together on the Lido: Mimmo Calopresti’s La fabbrica dei tedeschi (“The Germans’ Factory”) and ThyssenKrupp Blues from the duo Pietro Balla and Monica Repetto.

La fabbrica dei tedeschi opens with a short, fictionalised look at the lives of some of the working-class protagonists of the story as played by renowned actors including Silvio Orlando and Valeria Golino. Filmed in gritty black-and-white, this section sets the stage for a straightforward documentary treatment of its harrowing subject.

Through many interviews, Calopresti explores what happened just before and during the accident, but especially concentrates on the aftermath of the tragedy and the difficulties of those who survived to simply get on with their lives.

The film was produced by Studiouno and will be distributed in Italy by Istituto Luce.

ThyssenKrupp Blues has a narrower focus, as it follows Carlo, one of the colleagues of the young men who died, both before and after the accident (he was not in the factory when the accident occurred). As an immigrant worker from the Italian south and a factory worker laid off in the north, Carlo represents the complex situation of working-class, contemporary Italy.

Balla and Repetto actually started filming their subject before the accident occurred, for a documentary about the life of factory workers today. Like in Calopresti’s film, loneliness, neglect and regret are major themes.

The film was produced by Deriva Film, in co-production with Esperia Film and Babydoc Film.