Wednesday, 26 August 2020 18:36

Toni Servillo: “Giffoni is a sign of resistance and a message of life”

Giffoni is a sign of resistance, it represents the desire not to give in to fear and alarmism. It is a message of life despite this terrible scourge. I doubt people who say that after the pandemic everything will be different, because the desire to tell stories and to stage that feast for the senses, that is theatre, will stay the same.” Toni Servillo, guest of the Impact section of #Giffoni50, let himself be overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the kids and by the determination of the founder and director of Giffoni Opportunity, Claudio Gubitosi.

It has been 10 years since I came here for the first time - the actor said - and I must say that I found the same determination and the same passion. Aside from the social distancing, imposed by the health emergency, the beating heart of the festival has not changed. The most contagious message that we can experience in this edition - he clarified - is love for life in an historical moment that is, on the other hand, accustoming us to death. In this respect, Giffoni is unique, because it is able to bring young people who are passionate about cinema together, they can meet and interact. I was able to watch the documentaries, the one made for the fiftieth birthday of the Festival. What really struck me, among the other things, was the testimony of Wim Wenders. The fact that when he came here he found his inner child again. This is the mirror of the pedagogical dimension of the Festival. Once you see it, you realise that cinema is a wonderful occasion to talk about more complex themes. It is an opportunity that allows kids to know varieties of the world and that makes them love life. Preserving that sense of wonder, typical of our childhood, is fundamental. Kids are not empty vessels that need to be filled up with our knowledge. This is the place par excellence where the cliché about an incurious and non-attentive youth can be dispelled. At Giffoni its best side is represented”.

The giffoners were extremely curious about the work of the actor: “Every character is difficult. The ones that are inspired by fact are even more difficult because the audience has certain expectations". To the kids that want to pursue this career I would say: “Effort, sacrifice and commitment are needed. It is not a way to become famous easily”. Before being awarded, among the smiles and the applause of the kids, Servillo left the stage to Angelo Curti, productor and fellow student of Martone, with whom he founded the theatre company Falso movimento that would be later joined by Servillo and his company, creating Teatri Uniti. “The years spent at Falso movimento were extraordinary - Curti said - At the time the University of Salerno was a sort of Athens, full of brilliant minds, such as Rino Mele, Achille Mango, Angelo Trimarco, Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi”. A period of cultural ferment, of ideas and projects. Just like the ones that today are keeping the Festival of Giffoni alive, now more than ever.

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