see also
original title:
Io, l'altro
directed by:
cast:
Raoul Bova, Giovanni Martorana, Mario Pupella, Samia Zibidi, Lina Besrat Assefa, Davide Lo Verde, Alessia Luongo
screenplay:
cinematography:
editing:
costume design:
music:
producer:
production:
distribution:
country:
Italy
year:
2007
film run:
80'
format:
35mm - colour
release date:
18/05/2007
festivals & awards:
Giuseppe and Yousef are two fisherman, one Sicilian, and the other, Yousef, a Tunisian who has been living in Italy for 20 years. Not only are they friends, but they are also now partners, having recently bought a fishing boat together to fulfil a long time dream. Indeed, after working together for a boss for 10 years, they have finally gone into business for themselves to fish the southern Mediterranean between Sicily and Tunisia on their own account. A sudden radio flash announces that the police are hunting for an Arab terrorist involved in a shocking Madrid suicide attack. The man’s name is Yousef Ben Ali, the same name as Yousef, the Tunisian fisherman. At first the two men take this coincidence lightly, as they allude to the 2 million dollar reward being offered. That is, until other news from passing boats and various clues Giuseppe finds in his friend’s pockets make him more and more convinced that Yousef could in fact truly be this terrorist. Tension mounts to an unbearable level until the two men have a brutal fight in which the motor of the boat is destroyed. Their friendship now shattered, dialogue is impossible. At that moment, the men are horrified to spot the body of a drowned African girl at sea. They begin to argue what to do with the corpse. This moral and religious dispute drives Giuseppe and Yousef to the dramatic end.