Volevo solo vivere

I Only Wanted To Live
Je voulais seulement vivre

United States / Italy / Switzerland, January 2006
FILM, Documentary, 75 min.

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directed by
Mimmo Calopresti
Status
In distribution

The journey of nine Italian citizens, survivors of deportation and incarceration in the death camps of Auschwitz. Nine stories which enable us to retrace the key periods of this haunted experience: the Fascist government's enactment of racial laws in 1938, futile attempts at escape, deportation, the separation of families, miraculous survival at Auschwitz, liberation when Allied soldiers arrive at the gates of the camp in 1945... These words, which we may not be hearing for the first time, describe with extraordinary vividness and powerful lucidity, the various details of these experiences, both intimate and universal, almost always tragic and cruel. Testimonies which, at times, reveal remarkable feelings of tenderness and compassion, as well as moments of surprising happiness. “We'll always be there, at Auschwitz”, says Nedo Fiano, the lone member of his family to survive the camps. Mimmo Calopresti made this film after screening and choosing among hundreds of testimonies in the Italian archives of USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, as well as film and photo archives from personal albums of the survivors. “Editing down hundreds of hours of testimony... Mimmo Calopresti crafts a simple, straightforward and devastating portrait of nine Italian Jews deported to Auschwitz, each recounting wrenching memories with searing clarity... (relying) on the testimony of survivors, interspersed with archival footage, to bring home the unfathomable human toll far more effectively.” Jay Weissberg (Variety)

credits

World Premiere
January 2006
Original Version
Italian,  colour and b/w, 35mm, 75 min.
Production
USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, Gagé Produzioni Piccola Cooperativa Gagé, Wildside Media, RAI Cinema, ventura film sa, RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera
Producer
Mimmo Calopresti, Laurence Hoffmann, Mark Edwards
directed by
Mimmo Calopresti
Editing
Massimo Fiocchi, Valerio Quintarelli
Re-Recording Mix
Gianluca Carbonelli
Music
Rachel's, Federico Badaloni
Location Sound Mix
Gianluca Carbonelli

World Sales / World Rights

World Sales
Playtime

Worldwide Distribution

Italy
O1 Distribution Distribution
Switzerland
Frenetic Films Distribution

Festivals

(a selection)

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