Data sheet

documentary / 59' / 2015 / Italian / DCP & Blu ray

directors: Stefania Bona e Francesca Scalisi
director of photography: Stefania Bona
editing: Marzia Mete e Francesca Scalisi
sound recordist: Francesca Scalisi
sound designer: Stefano Bernardi
music: Matteo Castellano
produced by: Jump Cut, EiE Film e Don Quixote
with the support of: Trentino Film Commission, BLS - Business Location Südtirol Alto Adige, Piemonte Doc Film Fund & MEDIA Programme

Synopsis

A small red-brick building stands out with its big neon light: ‘Bagni’ (‘Bath’). It’s the last public bath in Turin, a microcosm where the destinies of those who lack a bath at home here regularly come across each other for the time of a shower. 
In this very space, both public and private, men and women, customers and keepers, old and young, Italians and foreigners, share their intimacy associated by their shared need of taking care of their personal hygiene.
In the bath of Bianzè Street life takes place in the form of shared secrets and unpredictable encounters turning into friendships; and yet in the form of conflicts due to poverty’s powerlessness turning into anger.
The ‘Bath people’ drive us through a place where the acts of sharing and listening lay the foundations of a new multi-colored community, consolation for the poor and potential start of their renaissance.  

Directors' statement

«The both of us feel the urge of portraying current events and the nearby reality. 
As soon as we discovered the last public bath in Turin, the city where one of us resides, we knew it was the perfect place to describe the life of the invisibles, of the increasing number of those affected by the recent credit crunch and therefore by poverty.
Giving voice to these people immediately appeared very important to us, because this particular microcosm would allow us to talk about the outside world through the narration of many-sided micro-stories. And while these stories turned up to subvert many ‘outside world’ stereotypes, they also allowed us to depict an environment that was replacing the concept of State with that of community.
In such an unique dimension, where people coming from many different cultures come across each other due to one of their most intimate needs, taking care of one’s personal hygiene becomes metaphor of the purification from struggle and injustice».

Stefania Bona and Francesca Scalisi

Festivals and awards

  • 29. Bozner Filmtage
  • 63. Trento Film Festival - CinemAMoRe prize
  • XIV Rome Independent Film Festival - Best Italian documentary
  • Concorso Italia Doc 2015 Libero Bizzarri
  • 18. Mediterraneo Video Festival - Jury prize
  • ViaEmiliaDocFest 2015 - Jury prize
  • VIII Festival del Cinema dei Diritti Umani di Napoli - Best Feature
  • Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival 2015
  • 39. Göteborg Film Festival
  • 14. Festival de Cine Y Derechos Humanos Donostia/San Sebastian
  • 23. L'Alternativa, Festival de Cine Independiente de Barcelona
  • International Human Rights Film Festival - This Human World 2016
  • 15. RAI Film Festival 2017
  • Architektur.Film.Sommer 2017
  • Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam 2017

Next screenings