A collective memory project of firsthand accounts of how Italians are living throughout the SARS-CoV-2 crisis
Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores is coordinating a numerous team to put together the first movie created in smart-working. And the theme is, of course, the SARS-CoV-2 health crisis that caused the lockdown of Italy and a good part of the world. It will be a documentary film made with videos made by Italians in their own homes. “Viaggio in Italia”, “Voyage in Italy” in English, is produced in collaboration with Indiana Production and RAI Cinema.
Salvatores will use material from social media and other sources chronicling the development of the crisis and life in Italy during the lockdown. A montage, a collective memory project, of first-hand accounts of how Italians are “living this dramatic adventure,” says Salvatores. It will follow the timeline starting with the first news of SARS-CoV-2 arriving from China, when it seemed very distant, and the reactions of political leaders. It will show how the crisis slowly unfolded and revealed itself to be the grave situation we know today. There will also be videos from hospitals. About them, talking to Variety, Salvatores said “It’s a delicate aspect. (…) This has to be done realistically, but at the same time trying to strike a positive note.”
Moreover, it will explore the “reawakening” of nature that took place as soon as regular human activities of mankind are placed on pause.
Water returning to be clean, animals re-appearing where they had left space to people.
Salvatores explained: “I’ve read an article that describes the virus like a sort of hacker that has entered into our system to show us how fragile our world is before it could definitively collapse…It’s not the only point of view, nor the most important one. But it’s interesting.”
The large team of about 60 editors and assistants from all over Italy, including many young film industry workers, will be working from their homes. We have a big team because there is going to be plenty of material to sift through. They are organized in several teams. The first one, which is already at work, is gathering and tagging material that is already on the web. A second one will be interacting with the people who are asking the production what types of videos they should hand in. Another one will sift through all the material and hand it over to the editing team. There will also be a team in charge of collecting the authorizations from everyone appearing in the selected material.