Feast

click on the images to download them in high res

Feast (Festa)

original title:

Festa

directed by:

cast:

Jacopo Castellani, Cecilia Ermini, Carlo Malacchini, Primo Gaburri, Silvia Migliorati, Petra Veneziani, Fiammetta Alighieri, Oliva Andreoli, Roberta Brunelli, Giancarlo Zanoni

screenplay:

cinematography:

production:

Zefiro Film, with the partecipation of Fondazione Cineteca Italiana

country:

Italy

year:

2016

film run:

40'

format:

colour

status:

Ready (13/07/2016)

festivals & awards:

A country village celebrates the feast of St. Peter. The priest encourages the people to confess and get rid of covetousness then, at the end of the Mass, invites everyone to dance. In the churchyard the elder start the dances, while in the main square the others, young and old, eat and drink in good company. The jugglers and street artists enchant passers-by, while teenagers fly on light rides. At sunset some teenagers are kissing each other while the old continue to dance in the moonlight. During the feast, however, some melancholic figures make their appearance as well. An elderly always locked up at home, or looking at the window, a disabled person in a wheelchair, a young man who wanders pensively among the youthful joy while a lonely woman looks at the intertwined couples. In the towns and districts the traditional festivals annually renew to celebrate the patron saint, reflecting the need of faith, of conviviality and fun but amplifying, in some, the discomfort and loneliness.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES:
The sacred and the profane are intertwined in a whirl of music, dances and joy. Equipped with only a small video camera, I wanted to capture and treasure the most significant moments that are woven together in an ancient peasant ritual that reveals on one hand the deeply rooted religious feel and on the secular need for fun and togetherness. Without losing on the opportunity, for young people, to look for love. Capturing many images from the real fun-fair, and editing them in alternating sequences, I wanted to represent the different states of mind that on these occasions crop up simultaneously on the faces and gestures of men and women of all ages.