Seven days: a man, a woman and a “no future” love in the scenery of the island of Levanzo

Seven days: a man, a woman and a "no future" love in the scenery of the island of Levanzo

Today, Seven days, the new film by Italian-Swiss director Rolando Colla, is released in cinemas. The film arrives in Italian cinemas after attending numerous international festivals: the Zurich Film Festival and the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2016 and the International Film Festival of Mons: Cinémas du Monde, the ICFF Italian Contemporary Film Festival and the Solothurn Film Festival in 2017.

A beautiful and intense film that confirms the director's quality and sensibility.

The film, the director says, tells “the story of a man who has withdrawn himself, because he wanted to break free from others, and above all from love. But it tells also the story of a man who returns to life….. because life comes to find us, even if we hide. …..even when we retreat, life calls us to back to play our part. ……. For me, it is also a plea for a passionate love story, and ability of a man to break away from his slumber and change.”

Synopsis

Ivan and Chiara meet on a Sicilian island to prepare the wedding for Ivan’s brother and Chiara’s best friend. Despite the fact that Ivan is determined not to repeat the failure of his last relationship and Chiara does not want to jeopardize her marriage, the two fall in love with each other. They resolve to live their relationship for only a few days and then break it off when the wedding guests arrive on the island. However, they made such a plan, without taking love into account.

Location

The film's location is the island of Levanzo, the smallest of the Egadi Archipelago in Sicily. It is an island where only a few dozen people live in winter. A difficult island to live, but that, as says Alessia Barela, is the real protagonist of the film.

The director says “Levanzo has inspired me since the first time we set foot: with only one small village by the sea, a dilapidated lighthouse, the few beaches with pebbles and wild nature. Even the inhabitants, people with a certain scepticism, have opened up with time, and inspired me. Their songs, their cuisine and their joie-de-vivre are now in the film, especially in the scenes that show the wedding feast, and I’m very happy about that.”

Cast

The protagonists of film are played by Bruno Todeschini and Alessia Barela. With them Marc Barbé, Linda Olsansky, Gianfelice Imparato, Fiorella Campanella, Aurora Quattrocchi, Benedetto Raneli, Giovanni Cintura, Fabrizio Pizzuto, Catriona Guggenbühl, Armen Godel, Laurence Montandon, Daniel Kasztura, Carmela Conti, Christine Citti, Vincent Held, Gianluca Spaziani.

For the inhabitants of the island I’ve worked with Sicilians actors and actresses, both with professionals and non-professionals. The choir is composed by singers between the age of 60 and 75 that live in Palermo and in their free time sing; only the soloist is a professional. We found the musicians in a senior center in Palermo, and they play by ear.

Troupe

Script Rolando Colla, Olivier Lorelle, Nicole Borgeat, Héloïse Adam. Produced by Peacock Film and Solaria Film in coproduction with RSI, SRG SSR, ARTE, Movimento Film. Producers Elena Pedrazzoli, Emanuele Nespeca. Co-producers Mario Mazzarotto. Production manager Gianluca Barbieri. Production’s inspector Chiara Scardamaglia. Camera Lorenz Merz, Gabriel Lobos. Editing Rolando Colla. Sound Jürg Lempen. Music/Sound design Bernd Schurer. Mix Mélissa Petitjean. Set designer Marcello Di Carlo, Andi Schrämli. Make up Miria Germano. Costume design Daniela Verdenelli. Chief grip André Fürst. Casting Sarah Teper e Leila Fournier (Francia), Massimiliano D'Agostino (Roma), Ugo Polizzi (Palermo). Microphone Frank Gonzalez Gerard. Colorgrading Timo Inderfurth.

Trailer