We are pleased to be able to report that part of the post-production of the new documentary film by Michele Pennetta, a director of Italian origin trained at the Scuola Cantonale d'Arte in Lausanne and Geneva, who directed among others of the internationally successful documentary 'My Body' (2020), is taking place in Ticino at Pic Film in Manno.

The project, written by Pennetta himself together with Giulia Moriggi, is the result of an international co-production between the Geneva-based production company Close up Films, RSI Swiss Radio and Television, Indyca Films (Italy), Rai Cinema (Italy) and ARTE (France). Filming took place mainly in Italy, in the Como region with some stops in Ticino for scenes shot in the Mendrisio region, near the border, with the support of the Ticino Film Commission.

Several industry professionals from Ticino were involved in both filming and post-production. Sound editing is entrusted to Riccardo Studer from Ticino. Local sound technician Edgar Iacolenna and camera assistant Mariangela Marletta are also part of the crew. Finally, the musical composition of a scene in the documentary will be provided by the Ticino band Peter Kernel, a duo well-known in the European independent rock scene, consisting of Canadian singer Barbara Lehnhoff and Ticino guitarist Aris Bassetti. The documentary also features some songs by the band itself and by Camilla Sparksss (Barbara Lehnhoff's solo project).

"Lonely" is a coming-of-age story where we find the two protagonists, Federico and Precious, searching for their place in the world, in a precarious balance between real life, which is already limited and difficult, and dreams.

Synopsis

Federico and Preciuos live in the province of Como on the border with Canton Ticino, two teenagers forced to come to terms with their own fears and frailties: Federico's heart doesn’t work properly and he has to confront his own limitations; Preciuos, in conflict with her mother, is forced into an early and painful independence. Both find in music an instrument to express themselves and support each other. The pursuit of a common dream will collide with the harsh reality, which will catapult Federico and Preciuos out of their adolescence.

Director's notes

Since my first three documentaries, my film work has focused on the observation and study of people who seem to be unable to do anything but survive, excluded from a system that would like them to play by its rules. 'Lonely' is a continuation of the reflection begun in previous works. In the interstices of the European continent, so controlled and regulated, shadowy areas creep in, weaknesses of the system, where the most marginalised people survive. Geographical borders are overlaid with other limits, symbolic and invisible, much more impassable, which only accentuate the inequalities. What touched me in my encounter with these young people was the awareness that I was dealing with adolescents who are already locked in the anguish of a limited future, but who are nevertheless trying to stay afloat, just as in my previous films I have portrayed young people trying to figure out what kind of adult they want to become in a continuous struggle for survival. This time, I have focused the narrative exclusively on teenagers. Adults will only be present as silhouettes. In my opinion this is how they often appear in the perception of young people: vague figures, far removed from their reality and very often, unlike them, devitalised. The documentary, the reality, has always been the starting point of my film work. Through "Lonely", I want to shed light on marginal characters who survive in the shadows. They are guys in between: between two worlds but also between two lives, one real, already difficult and limited, and the other dreamed of, necessarily better and easier. This documentary honours these existences to whom life, even before they can take flight, has already clipped their wings.

The director

Born in Varese in 1984, he attended the Ecole Cantonale d'Art in Lausanne and Geneva (ECAL - HEAD) and obtained a Master's degree in film directing. His graduation film, I CANI ABBAIANO (2010), was selected in several international festivals, including the Cinéma du Réel in Paris and the Torino Film Festival, while 'A IUCATA (2013) was presented in Locarno in the Pardi di Domani section. His association with the Locarno Film Festival continued with PESCATORI DI CORPI (‘Fishing Bodies’ - 2016), his first feature film in international competition at Cineasti del Presente. The international premiere of the documentary MY BODY (2020) took place at the Cannes Film Festival. MY BODY was acclaimed by the international press and critics and was released in European cinemas in spring 2021.

Production:

Close Up Films is an independent production company based in Geneva that has produced a wide range of projects, including dramas, documentaries and TV series.  Working with both promising new talents and established writers, the company aspires to reach a wide audience with projects that are challenging in both form and content.

Lonely is a documentary produced by Close Up Films (Geneva) in co-production with RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera, Indyca Films (Italy), Rai Cinema (Italy) and ARTE (France) and with the support of the Ticino Film Commission.