Covid, Bergamo’s courage in the docufilm Watch the trailer for “A Viso Aperto” – Video – EcoDiBergamo.it

A story told, and above all faced, with courage: «A Viso Aperto». This is the name of the docu-roadmovie signed by Ambrogio and Luigi Crespi and presented this morning in Milan, as a national preview. A trip to five cities in northern Italy: Cremona, Crema, Brescia, Milan and, of course, Bergamo, to photograph a country at war against Covid-19. With live images, “A Viso Aperto” is the only film shot in the areas most affected by the pandemic while the virus was spreading, in those months between February and May 2020 that Italy and the whole world will never forget. Months that have put pressure even on those who, by nature, are inclined never to back down. Like the people of Bergamo who showed all their resistance and their spirit of solidarity during the health emergency.

In fact, the documentary also enters the hospital created in Bergamo thanks to the joint work of volunteers, among which are fans of Atalantine and Alpine and more than 300 highly specialized artisan companies, summoned by Confartigianato Bergamo. Masons, carpenters, painters, plumbers, gas technicians and specialized electricians who worked for almost 20,000 hours, creating from scratch and in record time, a true hospital with 142 beds, 72 of which are intended for intensive care and diving. -intensive and the rest to those who came out of the critical phase of Covid-19. A team game that saw together the artisans of the Confartigianato and the National Alpine Association, the Emergency volunteers, the medical workers of the Russian army and, of course, the staff of the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital., who guaranteed the medical, nursing, technical and management direction of the unit. All determined to help a city besieged by an invisible but very powerful enemy.

«’The construction work of life’ is what I call the work we did in those days. A challenge involving hundreds of artisans was started from a simple email. Each of us was responsible for an area and with great determination we took home the result. Suffice it to say that in 26 hours we applied three coats of white to almost 30,000 square meters of space. An experience that none of us will ever forget »- comments Giacinto Giambellini, president of the Confartigianato Imprese Bergamo. Thus, in the documentary, images of hectic work and full lanes alternate with shots of deserted and silent streets. Streets awakened only by sudden ambulance sirens, all aimed at the same place. A place of care and hospitality where the Bergamo Hospital staff worked tirelessly and, from one day to the next, first and foremost, had to face the unstoppable tide of infections.

“Reliving these moments in the documentary was very emotional. It seemed that Covid-19 was something distant from us, a virus that had only attacked one area of ​​China. And instead, in no time we found the hospital full of people: and not green codes, but patients who needed oxygen. They were incredible moments, an avalanche that our country had to face first, but before which we did not give up »- declares Maria Beatrice Stasi, General Director of ASST Pope John XXIII.

“Uncovered face”
It is, in fact, an individual story, made up of many faces and many voices – patients, families, businessmen, doctors, volunteers – but at the same time a collective history united by solid values ​​rooted in the territory. “We could not avoid responding to the cry for help that came from our land because people like us never give up – confirms Sergio Rizzini, general director of Alpine Health of the National Alpine Association -. We knew that the hospital would give hope and concrete help to many people and that is why the satisfaction when we finished it was great. The same we feel today, months later, when reviewing those images.

“We never would have imagined having to commit to a humanitarian mission in Italy. However, it was the logical consequence of the experience we have acquired over many years, with the protocols developed with Ebola and the management of hospitals in 360 degrees. The documentary made me relive those first days of April, when we arrived in Bergamo and together with the Alpine troops, artisans and Pope John XXIII we helped organize a hospital out of nowhere. We are happy to have been able to contribute at such a difficult time for our communities ”stated Rossella Miccio, President of Emergency.

“It’s a really good film – said Stefano Bruno Galli, regional councilor for Autonomy and Culture. I am personally pleased and congratulated to the producers, Indexproduction and Italian Cineteca, and also to the author, Ambrogio Crespi.. It is a film shot in the areas most affected during the Covid health emergency, a trip to a territory devastated by the pandemic, which tells us, through images and testimonies, the reaction to combat and stop the spread of the virus by part of the great Lombard people, starting with the people involved in the front line, health administrators, doctors and nurses, law enforcement agencies and businessmen, in general citizens. In this sense it is a hymn to Lombardism. In fact, it highlights the Lombard virtues such as the spirit of sacrifice, dedication to work, the self-denial of our people. Historically the present is always very difficult. However, this documentary does it very well. For this reason it will be screened in the next few days in Cremona, Bergamo, at the Vittoriale de Gardone Riviera and then again in Milan, at the Dal Verme Theater. There will also be an appointment on the sidelines of the Venice Film Festival. The fact that the Biennial has substantially “rejected” this documentary tells us that the time has come for the great Lombardy to endow itself with its own Film Festival, also to promote a sector, that of audiovisuals, which in our regional territory Significant human and material resources are committed and involved. For at least a couple of years we have been working in this direction and we have collected the availability of some private entrepreneurs. We are still in the planning stage, but we are very optimistic about its completion in 2021. ‘

Resilience. Passion. Determination. Power. These are emotions that emerge clearly from the report by the Crespi brothers who, after framing the health emergency, also focuses on its socioeconomic consequences. With the awareness that there is an Italy to rebuild, a slower Italy – perhaps – and also for that reason more authentic. A country that will have many problems to face and that will have to do it, once again, “A Viso Aperto”.

The documentary will be presented on September 9 in Bergamo, at 6.30 p.m., at the Papa Giovanni XXIII Congress Center, and on September 10 in Venice, between the acts of the Fuori Salone of the 77th Venice International Film Festival .

Here is the official trailer, from the Facebook page «A Viso Aperto – Il Docufilm».

© REPRODUCTION RESERVED