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Interview: Antonietta De Lillo on her Nastro d'Argento win with Gianfranco Pannone for "Oggi Insieme Domani"

This morning, the winners of the Nastri d’Argento for Best Documentary were announced. Among the winners is Antonietta De Lillo, a director I’ve admired for years. I first saw her work at the 2005 edition of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, an annual film series held at Lincoln Center, which showcases contemporary Italian films. There, she presented “Il resto di niente”, a beautiful story about courage and determination set in the 17th century, adapted from Enzo Striano’s novel. Her latest film, the documentary “Oggi, insieme domani” (OIDA or in English- Today Tomorrow Together) is a film which speaks to the complexities of love and relationships in this day and age, and the current social revolution happening in Italy- in particular with same-sex marriage.

I asked De Lillo a few questions about the making of this film and the current situation of modern love in her country. Our interview was done in Italian, so both versions are included.
What inspired you to create this project?
I worked for five years on developing this film with the production company Marechiarofilm. “Oggi insieme domani” also represents the prototype. I wanted to show the annals of our country, bringing together what many authors avoid, which is a "narrative" of the (political) party from whom Italy was afflicted for the last two decades and that made us lose sight of a shared sense of belonging. Love, which is the theme of this film, is the feeling that moves our relationships and so it seemed the right instrument to use in returning to a portrait of Italy today, to show our changes and our revolutions. 

Che ti ha inspirato a creare questo progetto?
L'idea del film partecipato, un genere di documentario che con marechiarofilm sto sviluppando da oltre cinque anni e di cui Oggi Insieme Domani Anche rappresenta il prototipo, mi è venuta pensando che mi avrebbe fatto piacere realizzare degli annali sul nostro paese, riunendo lo sguardo di più autori per evitare una "narrazione" di parte da cui l'Italia dell'ultimo ventennio è afflitta e che ci ha fatto perdere di vista un senso comune di appartenenza. L'amore, che costituisce il tema di questo secondo film partecipato, è il sentimento che muove le nostre relazioni e quindi mi è sembrato la chiave giusta per poterci restituire un ritratto dell'Italia oggi, dei nostri cambiamenti e delle nostre rivoluzioni. 

In your opinion, how has love and the institution of marriage in Italy changed since the referendum on divorce by Pier Paolo Pasolini?
We are facing a new great revolution of the family, of the nuclei, relationships and personal relationships, as in the time of the referendum on divorce when there was a massive response from civil society. Today, we are going beyond what modern society says- who we are supposed to be with. The Protagonists chosen by the makers of this film are people very different from each other and the beauty of the film is precisely this- that all these stories coexist in harmony and without any judgment. In real life, everyone is fighting for his own idea and to live his own life. “Today Tomorrow Together” expresses the ideas of all these people, creating and ideal situation in which there is room for all kinds of love. 

Nella tua opinione, come è cambiato l'istituzione del matrimonio dal referendum sul divorzio e dai Comizi d’amore di Pier Paolo Pasolini?
Siamo di fronte a una nuova grande rivoluzione della famiglia, dei nuclei, dei rapporti e delle relazioni personali, come ai tempi del referendum sul divorzio quando ci fu una reazione massiccia della società civile. Oggi siamo andati oltre, oggi la società moderna dice "Con chi voglio". I protagonisti scelti dai vari registi sono persone estremamente diverse tra di loro e la bellezza del film è proprio che al suo interno convivono tutte queste storie in armonia e senza nessun giudizio. Nella vita reale ognuno si batte per la propria idea, in Oggi Insieme Domani Anche trovano espressione le idee di tutti e si compone così una società per me ideale dove c'è posto per tutti i tipi di amore. 

From the interviews on the streets and the stories of other participants, was there anything that really surprised you?
What surprised me after listening to the stories of these people and these couples who have the ability not just to meet and to find love but to cultivate it without ever leaving each other, like Gloria and Olivia. The real breakthrough and the last, greatest revolution for me is the resistance. 

Dalle inchieste per le strade e storie raccontate dagli autori che hanno partecipato al progetto, c’era qualcosa che ti ha sorpreso?
Quello che mi ha sopreso forse era anche quello che cercavo, cioè le persone, le storie, le coppie che hanno la capacità non tanto di incontrare l'amore quanto di trasformarlo anche dopo che si lasciano, o di coltivarlo senza separarsi mai, come Gloria e Olivia. La vera rottura è durare nel tempo, la più grande rivoluzione per me è la resistenza. 

We’ll keep you updated on the international distribution for this film, In the meantime, watch watch a clip from the film.

Among other winners that we've covered here before are Pietro Marcello's "Bella e perduta", Roberto Minervini's "The Other Side", "La voce di Pasolini" by Matteo Cerami and Mario Sesti and Samantha Cristoforetti, personaggio dell’anno (Astrosamantha di Gianluca Cerasola). Click here for the complete list of winners.
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