L’ULTIMA SPIAGGIA (The Last Resort)cdn-media.festival-cannes.com/pdf/0001/05/89828819dbc...beach‐goers which enabled us to produce an observational documentary, whose stories came

69.CannesFilmFestival‐OfficialSelection–SpecialScreenings

MansardaProductionFantasiaAudiovisualArizonaProductions

withRaiCinemainco‐productionwithGreekFilmCentre

present

L’ULTIMASPIAGGIA(TheLastResort)

afilmbyThanosAnastopoulosDavideDelDeganItaly/Greece/France2016,col.,DCP,135’

Pressscreening:Thursday12thMay,at11am,SalleBazin

Officialscreening:Thursday12thMay,at8.15pm,Salle60ème

Worldsales: WideHouse(RivieraG2) InternationalPress:AlibiCommunications

AnaïsClanet,[email protected] BrigittaPortier‐+33(0)628968165

www.widehouse.org [email protected]

SHORTSYNOPSIS

L'ULTIMASPIAGGIA(TheLastResort)describesthelifeandtellsthestoriesofbeach‐goersrevol‐vingaroundaverypopularbeachlocatedinTrieste,intheNortheastofItaly,whereawallstillse‐paratesmenfromwomen.

Afilmaboutboundaries,identitiesanddiscrimination.

Atragicomedyonhumannature.

LONGSYNOPSIS

Itsofficialname ispublic resort “La Lanterna” (i.e. The lantern)buteverybody inTrieste simplycallsit“elPedocìn”:apublicbeachintheveryheartofTrieste,stilldividedintwobyawall.Menononesideofthewallandwomenontheother.

Anotherworld,an island frozen in time facingaseawhichdividesandunitesat thesametime,widening and blurring borders, blending them together the same way Italians and Serbians,GreeksandSlovenians,JewsandGermans,AustriansandAmericans.

L’ultimaspiaggia–TheLastResort isthedocumentaryThanosAnastopoulosandDavideDelDe‐gandedicatedtothisuniqueplaceandtothewomenandmenpopulatingit,realcharactersofatragicomedyonhumannature:mostlylonelyindividualswithadifficultpast(andsometimesadif‐ficultpresent),butalsogreathumanity.Thetwodirectorsattendedtheresortforawholeyear:inwinter,withveryfewbeach‐goers,mainlymen,fillingtheretheirlongdays;inspring,asthesungetswarmerandtheresortgraduallylivensup;insummer,whenonacrowdedresortlifeguardsattendtotheirdutyunderthewatchfuleyeofthewomen;andeventuallyinautumn,whenbuoysarepulledashoreandthepreviousmonthsthoughtfullyweighed,whenregularbeach‐goerssaygoodbyetillthefollowingyearandrecallthosewhopassedaway.Onthe30thSeptember,fortheannualpartycelebratingtheclosingoftheseason,thewallgateisopened.Menandwomengetready:food,wine,songsandcheerfulness.At12o’clocksharpthewall isopenedinthegeneralindifference,andsurprisinglynobodycrossestheboundary…

Inacitywherebordershaveconsistentlychanged,wherebarriers,whetherrealorsymbolic,havecrumbled,wheretherevolutionledbyFrancoBasagliaknockeddownthewallsoftheasylum,thePedocìnwallisstillstanding,because,paradoxically,itdoesnotdividebutpreservesthefreedomofmenandwomen.Awall leading toa reflectionon identity and toabetterunderstandingofthose“mentalwalls”Triesteinherited,moreorlessconsciously,fromtheTwentiethcentury.

THEBEACH“PEDOCÌN”

Thebeachresort“Lalanterna”wasfoundedattheturnofthetwentiethcenturyalongtheMolo(i.e.pier)SantaTeresa,laterrenamedMoloFratelliBandiera:builtinwood,fromtheverybegin‐ning the resortwasdivided in twoby a fence (later rebuilt in cement) toprevent “acts againstpublicdecency”.Todayitissetinaurbanenvironmentdominated,likemanyothercitylocations,byoxymoronsandcontrasts.Outsidetheresort,ononesidesailboatsaredockedinthemarinasonthebackgroundoftheelegantneoclassicbuildingsstandingonthecoast,whileontheothersidecustoms‐housesloomovertheport,withhundredsofTurkishlorrieswaitinginlinetocom‐pletetheboardingprocedures.

Whiletheofficialname“BagnoLanterna”surelyreferstothelanternplacedonthepierin1832asa lighthouse, theoriginof thenickname“Pedocìn” is stillobscure:according to somehistoriansthe term comes from mussels, (in the local dialect “pedoci”), an allusion to the beach‐goerscrowdingtheresort,countlessasthemusselshangingontotherocks.Anotherpossibleexplana‐tionliesinthefactthatAustro‐Hungariansoldiersandlocalsusedtogotothebeachtogetridoflice;inthelocaldialectalouseisa“pedocio”,sotheresortnamemeans“smalllouse”too.Actu‐allythefirstlocalnicknamefortheresortwas“Ciodìn”(smallnail),referringtothehabitofloyalbeach‐goerstobringwiththemthenailstohangtheirclotheson.

Onethingiscertain:afteroveracenturythePedocìnbeachhasn’tlostitspopularcolour,makingitacrowdedandbelovedresortuptothepresentandanauthentic,untouchablesymbolofthecity.Whenattheendofthe‘80sthelocalnewspaper“IlPiccolo”launchedareferendumonthefutureofthewall,theyhadnottowaitlongfortheheartfeltreactionofthelocals:thewallstayswhereitis.

DIRECTORSNOTES

IwasbornandraisedinAthensandhavelivedinTriestefor8years,sincemyson’sbirth.Togetherwithhim Idiscovered thePedocìn resort,wherewholegenerationsof localchildrenhavemovedtheirfirststeps.

HavingspentmyearlyyearsontheAtticabeaches,IimmediatelyfeltmyselfathomeinaseasidecitylikeTrieste,andstartedtolookforsimilaritiesanddifferenceswiththeplacesofmychildhood.Thisledmetoalonganddeepreflectionaboutborders,discriminations,nationalandsexualiden‐tity.

Awallacrossabeach innowadaysEuropeseems toquestionall the foundationsofour society.Thisiswherethisprojectcomesfrom,andthereasonwhyIstartedtogotothebeachalreadydur‐ingthewinter;thiswayIwasabletoestablishabondofmutualtrustwiththeresortemployeesandtheregularbeach‐goers.Followingtheirdailyroutinebasedupontheweatherandthenature,Irealizedawholemicrocosmwasbeingunveiledinfrontofme.

Trieste:acosmopolitanandmulticulturalcity,ItalianandatthesametimeAustrian,Balkan,GreekandJew‐

ish.Acitywherenobodyfeelslikeaforeigner,becauseeverybodyisaforeignertoacertainextent,onewayortheother.AcitywhichcouldhavebecometheEuropeanNewYork,ifthingshadgonedifferentlyduringthetwoWorldWars.An“ex‐world”alreadyover,whereapastfullofpromiseshasturnedintodisappoint‐

mentandlosthopes.Aplacewherenoonefeelsashamedofconsideringthemselves losers,becauseherethisisacommonfeeling,aphilosophyoflife.Abordercityquestioningallournotionsoforigin,identityandbelonging,whereawallcanbecomethesymbolofautopiaandknockdownthe“mentalwalls”everybody

ishiding inside.TellingthestoryofthePedocìnwall isalmost liketellingthestoryofourselves, loyalcus‐

tomersofourownlastresort,lookingforourownplaceinthesun.ThanosAnastopoulos

Iwasalreadyquitefamiliarwiththisbeachandthethousandsstoriesthatlatermadeupthefilmstoryline:Ihadalreadyexperienceditsatmosphere,Istillhadinmindthefacesofthoseindividu‐als,realpeoplecarryingtheburdenofafragilehumanity.IhadnotbeentothePedocìnforalongtime,butthisiswhereIgrewupandwheremyheartstillbelongs.

Rediscoveringmyownrootsaftermanyyearswasacatharticexperience.Learningaboutthelittleandgreathumanadventuresgatheredtogetherinsuchanarrowplace,recognisingthereallthehumanvarietyandstrength,broughtincredibleenergytothisproject.

Allthedayswespentwithourfeetfirmlyplantedinthesandofthisbeach,oureyesfixedonnakedmenandwomen,onpeculiarandobsoletearchitectures,on the sea,affectedme inaway thattranscendstime:atthebeginningIcouldchoosetoexperienceeverythingwiththeeyes,theper‐spectiveandthedimensionsofthechildIoncewas,likeinadaydream;laterIcameacrosssomesortofold‐fashionedmasculinity,incapableofunderstandingorconceivinganythingbutitself.

AsIpassbytanned,sweatingandblackenedbodiesIrecallmyownpointofviewasachild,scaredbythesometimestoo largebreastsofunknownandyetfamiliarwomen,whileamoment later Icanlookwiththeeyesofagrown‐upman,recognisingthestrengthandtheemancipationofindi‐vidualswhofeelfreetobeexactlyastheyare.

After severalmonthsof preparationwemanaged to establish that kindof relationshipwith thebeach‐goerswhichenabledustoproduceanobservationaldocumentary,whosestoriescameupbythemselves,withonlytheaidoftime,andnottheslightesthintof intrusionor influencefromourpart.

Weneither planned the interactionsbetween characters nor broughtup topics for discussion. Everythingcameupfromthespontaneouslifeofthisbeachandthenaturalcourseoftime,whichinsomesenseforced

ustobreaktheboundariesbetweenfictionanddocumentary,inordertobetterdescribetheclassicalarche‐typeofthehumanbeing.Life,death,culturalandmoralvalues.Inabordercitywhichrepresentsmulticul‐

turalismatitshighestpointandremainstightlyboundtoitshistoricalpast.DavideDelDegan

THEAUTHORS

ThanosAnastopouloswasborn inAthensand livesnowbetweenItalyandGreece.His first fea‐turefilm,Atlas–AlltheWeightoftheWorldwasscreenedin2004attheRotterdamInternationalFilm Festival;his second feature film Correctionwas shown at theBerlinale in 2008 and repre‐sentedGreeceintheAcademyAwards;in2013hedirectedTheDaughter,selectedfortheBerli‐nale and the Toronto Film Festival. Moreover, he produced Homeland by Syllas Tzoumerkas(2010), screened at the Venice International Film Critics Week, and Amnesty by Bujar Alimani(2011),whichreceivedtheCICAEAwardattheBerlinale.

DavidedelDeganwasbornandraisedinTrieste,wherehestartednurturinghispassionforcin‐emabyactingasassistantdirectorinseveralfilmproductions.Hemadehisdebutasadirectorin2001withtheshortfilmAcortod’amore,followedin2004byInterno9,awardedwiththeGlobod’oro(ItalianGoldenGlobe)andselectedfortheDaviddiDonatellocompetition.Amonghisnu‐merousworks,in2011hewroteanddirectedHabibi,anaward‐winningshortmovieinseveralin‐ternationalfestivals,whichreceivedtheNastrod’ArgentoawardandwasselectedfortheGlobod’orocompetition.

CREDITS

Direction ThanosAnastopoulos,DavideDelDegan

Cinematography IliasAdamis,DeboraVrizzi

Editing BonitaPapastathi

SoundEditing MatteoSerman

Sound FrancescoMorosini,HavirGergolet

SoundMixing KostasVaribopiotis

Producedby NicolettaRomeo

StellaTheodorakis

GuillaumedeSeille

Aproduction MansardaProduction,FantasiaAudiovisual,ArizonaProductions

with RaiCinema

incoproductionwith GreekFilmCentre

supportedby FriuliVeneziaGiuliaFilmCommission

FondoAudiovisivodelFriuliVeneziaGiulia

ERT–HellenicBroadcastingCorporation

CentreNationalduCinémaetdel'imageanimée–FondationFrancoGrecGFCCNC