L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015 www.italoamericano.com L'Italo-Americano 7 An Evening with Roberto Burchielli At a recent movie screening of La Scelta di Catia—80 Miglia a Sud di Lampedusa, I had the opportunity to talk about the film with its director, Roberto Burchielli. Mr. Burchielli is from Milan and spent fifteen months on the ocean with the first female captain of the Italian N a v y , C a t i a P e l l e g r i n o . Burchielli's compassion for the human condition comes through in his movie of ninety-two min- utes, as he chronicles the rescues of many refugees left adrift in small boats off the North-east coast of Africa. F r o m d i f f e r e n t w a r t o r n countries, many cultures are thrown together in these small dilapidated boats and left to drift on the currents of the sea. The people in the boats come from p l a c e s l i k e N i g e r i a , S y r i a , Turkey, Iraq, Eritrea, Somalia, and other countries caught amid the struggle for freedom from d i c t a t o r s h i p s a n d p o l i t i c a l unrest. Some carry backpacks or bags with whatever they think they can use in their migration. To see a person's worldly pos- sessions emptied on the dock of the ship and catalogued is very humbling and sad. A jar of jam, a notebook, headphones to an iPod or phone, a tattered blanket, these items are a source of com- fort and something to hang on to while they are in flight from danger. Maybe they represent t h a t t h e y h a v e s o m e t h i n g o f value? That they are not worth- less, that beneath it all, they are human beings with lives that once had stable homes. In speaking to Roberto, it is at once apparent how this docu- drama has more than one layer of meaning. When he first began the project, he set out to bring attention to Catia Pellegrino, the first female captain of the Italian Navy. He wanted to show the positive influence of Catia's strength and empathetic nature in serving others and maintain- ing vigilance in keeping the seas safe on her watch. It is in humil- ity that we begin to see this blos- soming story. The vessel, the Libra, and its c r e w o f b r a v e m e n p l u c k e d many people from small boats t h a t w e r e f i l l e d t o c a p a c i t y . A m o n g t h e m a n y f r i g h t e n e d refugees, were so many women and children looking for sanctu- ary from the troubled lands they had left behind. As Roberto con- tinued filming aboard the Libra, tight quarters and difficult con- ditions on the sea brought more challenges to the filming of the m o v i e . O f t e n t i m e s , C a p t a i n Pellegrino would become angry and order filming to stop. A program, called the Mare Nostrum was put in place to help those fleeing and Catia's ship, the Libra, was a very big part of saving those in dire need of help. Mare Nostrum is a preservation project funded by the European Union to help with cross border relations and those areas with compromised interior develop- ment pressures. Being the exceptional direc- tor that he is, Burchielli pushed on and began to see other layers in his emotional and compas- sionate work coming to light. Roberto commented that it was not always easy to keep filming due to rough seas and sea sick- ness often resulted. As his pro- ject came together, he soon real- ized that as a female, Catia had earned the respect and admira- tion of her crew. She was the only female on the Libra and throughout the movie she main- tained the elegant dignity that afforded her the privilege of being called 'Comandante'. It was very raw and painful to see the vacant stares behind beauti- ful eyes of those displaced men, w o m e n , a n d c h i l d r e n . E a c h human being with a tragic story behind eyes so frightened that t h e y w e r e w i l l i n g t o c h a n c e death, rather than suffer any longer in homelands marred by war and violence. As a result of this, we see how the Italian Navy has now become nurturers, and not just soldiers in providing safe haven for those they help. In one scene, a crew member begins to cry as he is recalling the dead bodies he must retrieve from the churn- ing waters. As he is doing his duty, he is struck by the idea of his own daughter's life and safe- ty. Mr. Burchielli mentions that there are some things too sad and gruesome to film and they must stop to collect themselves a t o n e p o i n t . O n e p a r t i c u l a r scene seems to represent the meaning of the entire film more than any other. The camera is focused on the bare feet of the refugees boarding the Libra. Focusing on their feet may per- haps represent the journey we all make in one way or another. Bare or wearing only one shoe in some cases, it was a moment to be understood that they were in flight, in a hurry, and in need of help. It is understood that Catia a n d t h e c r e w o f t h e L i b r a washed away the fears of the p e o p l e t h e y s a v e d . A s M r . Burchielli shared his experience with me, I could tell that his work had begun on one topic, b u t e v o l v e d a n d g r e w i n t o something else as those fifteen months brought more refugees and heart wrenching images in front of his cameras. T h e r e i s d a r k n e s s i n o u r world at times, but there are those few people that glow like a candle, lighting a path of hope to those in need. Perhaps Mr. R o b e r t o B u r c h i e l l i b r i n g i n g light to Catia Pellegrino and the crew of the Libra, is the candle that helps conquer some of that darkness. BRENDA DUNKELMAN Director Roberto Burchielli spent fifteen months on the ocean with the first female captain of the Italian Navy, Catia Pellegrino Professor Federico Pacchioni, Vicky Carabini with director Roberto Burchielli

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