(July 14, 217) "The Asteroids" by Germano Maccioni is the Italian film in competition at the 70th Locarno Festival (from August 2 to 12) Produced by Articolture and Ocean Productions with RAI Cinema and distributed by Istituto Luce-Cinecittà, the film marks the feature film's debut of Maccioni (born in 1978) film director, he directed short films and documentaries, including the latest "Fedele alla Linea" dedicated to the life of Giovanni Lindo Ferretti. Written by the director together with Giovanni Galavotti, "The Asteroids" brings for the first time a brilliant cast of young non-professional actors: Riccardo Frascari (as Pietro), Nicolas Balotti (Ivan) and Alessandro Tarabelloni (Cosmic), with the talents of Pippo Delbono and Chiara Caselli. A film with a great technical crew and an evocative soundtrack that combines the original composition of Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari and songs of Stato Sociale. Designed, produced and made entirely in Bologna and its province - a territory that becomes the true protagonist of the film - the film is part of the new genre coming-of-age, a novel of education geared up on a lively plot, the camera investigates an intimate and social plan. The protagonists of this adventurous fairy dropped into contemporaneity are three boys who are not even twenty, linked by deep friendship, in a context in which the economic crisis hit hard, and did not spared their families, making precarious affections and ties. "I have always thought to the Asteroids as a small 'training fable' set in the province, on the flat horizon of the plain, fertile with long fields, crazy faces and stories, bales and apparent architectural eyesores that sometimes surprise the gaze and show us an unexpected grace - explains Maccioni - In this landscape as Emilian as metaphysical, I also sought a representation of a human condition. I am honored (and curious) that the world premiere of the film takes place in the official competition of an international festival, so open to the world as Locarno. " (Red)

ABOUT / THE DIRECTOR

Born in Bologna in 1978. Director, author and actor, worked in theater and cinema, among others - Giancarlo Cobelli, Kim Rossi Stuart, Franco Branciaroli, Giorgio Diritti, Tatti Sanguineti and Franco Maresco. Between 2007 and 2008 he filmed " Lo Stato di Eccezione. Processo per Monte Sole 62 anni dopo", a documentary on the trial for the Monte Sole massacre, presented between 2008/2009 in numerous national and international festivals, including Author's Days at the Venice Film Festival, published on DVD by Cineteca di Bologna and repeatedly broadcasted by RAI. In 2009, he directed "My main man, clipboard for a jazz movie in Bologna". In 2011 he directed Roberto Herlitzka and Angela Baraldi in "Natural Things", his first short film of fiction, which has won numerous awards including the Antonioni Award for Best Director at the Bif&st-Bari International Film Festival, the Nastri d'Argento Selection and qualified as Film d'Essai by MiBACT. In 2012 he directed "I giorni scontati", a documentary entirely shot in an Italian jail. Then he wrote and directed "Fedle alla linea", a film about the life of Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, presented in March 2013 at the Bergamo Film Meeting and later at Bif&st - Bari International Film Festival. The documentary was in theaters in May 2013 with excellent box office achievements: more than 300 visions, including first and second visions, in over one hundred Italian cities, for over 15,000 viewers. In November 2013 it was released on DVD by Cecchi Gori HomeVideo.