THEwhere opportunities for young people are scarce and the danger of falling into delinquency is around the corner, culture can offer glimmers of hope. He proves it Lux Santathe documentary film with which the director Matthew Russo brings the fragile lives of teenagers from a working-class neighborhood to the big screen of the city of Crotone.
The majestic wooden pyramids, which burn to celebrate the tradition of fire of Saint Lucia, they become a metaphor for the spiritual peak climbed by the kids to overcome obstacles and shine in a new light.
Lux Santathe power of social cinema
«With a neorealistic approach, we lift the veil from crime news and show glimmers of hidden beauty» says Russo. The protagonists of the social cinema project are 15-year-olds from Crotone who, in the gray suburbs, are forced to improvise as adults, without the fathers locked up in prison or never known. They have a common goal: not to fall back into their parents’ mistakes and build a future that burns, beyond all prejudice.
«It is as if the children, through the ritual that symbolically restores sight to Saint Lucia, opened their eyes and discovered how to illuminate their dark lives” comments the director.
The documentary film lands in prison
After being enthusiastically received by critics and selected at the Italian Showcase of CannesDocs 2023 et al Turin Film Festival, establishing itself as a tool for training, re-education and social inclusion, the documentary film also crosses the gates of some Italian penitentiary institutions.
Thanks to the project “Fires of Hope: stories of rebirth through cinema”, promoted by the cultural association And I’m in with the support of SIAE and of Ministry of Culturewithin the program For those who create, Lux Santa is stopping in prisons and juvenile institutions.
«The most significant screening was that of last October 8, in the Crotone prison, where we had shot some scenes of the film. It was exciting to meet some of the protagonists again. Scene after scene, we perceived an emotional tension in the prisoners’ gazes which, intertwining experiences of suffering and absence, led to a debate genuine and transparent. Some shared their experiences, admitting that they saw themselves in the young protagonists” says Russo.
Screening of Lux Santa in Crotone prison
Redemption, awareness and reflection on the mistakes of the past: the objectives of Fires of Hope
Stimulate reflections on one’s own existence and on the mistakes of the past, encourage awareness and promote a path of personal and social growth for detained people – as he highlights Fabrizio Oliveriopresident of the promoting association – are the objectives pursued with Fires of Hope.
«Through this authentic story, which becomes a universal metaphor of resilience, redemption and the search for a new inner light, we intend to offer detained people not only a cultural moment, but above all a space for discussion and introspection» he adds.
A scene from the documentary film “Fires of Hope”
Culture undermines prejudices and offers the possibility of rebirth
In this way, in a historical moment in which there is an increase in youth hardship and, consequently, also of the tendency to commit crimes among the new generations, culture demonstrates that it can contribute to encouraging concrete change. Cinema becomes a tool for dialogue, capable of dispelling prejudices and restoring dignity and new perspectives to those who experience a process of detention.
«With greater attention towards the suburbs – Russo intervenes – culture offers young people who live in difficult contexts the possibility of being reborn and see with your own eyes a concrete alternative. In our small way, we have involved these kids in a cultural experience that makes them protagonists, allowing them to talk about themselves without filters and deal with a different world, in which their voice acquires centrality.”
A spark of concrete change
Strong and tangible, both among the young people protagonists of the docufilm and among the detained people who are taking part in the project, it is the desire to tell a different story of oneself, in which the suburbs are no longer synonymous with marginality and marginalization, but testifies to the ability to find strength and community in a popular tradition, such as that of the Fire of Saint Lucia.
«The main value that is needed to fuel this fire is the determination to free oneself from the weight of prejudice and shout to the world that they are capable of building a new path, united by the spirit of sharing” comment Russo and Oliverio who, after the next stop on October 16th in Bari prison, in November they will continue the journey inNisida Penal Institute for Juveniles and in other penitentiary facilities, guided by the light of hope.