At the cinema: Architettura della felicità, a documentary on Campione and its Casino

Architettura della felicità by Michele Cirigliano and Anton von Bredow is coming to cinemas in Ticino. The documentary is dedicated to the Casino of Campione d’Italia and the community surrounding it. It had its world premiere last January at the Solothurn Film Days and is a Swiss-German production (Mira Film and Filmtank Hamburg and RSI/SRF), also made with the support of the Ticino Film Commission and distributed by Vinca Film.

In the Italian enclave on Lake Lugano, the directors focus on the famous Casino, which for over half a century brought great wealth to the municipality, creating a sort of dependence among the population and plunging it into an existential crisis after the 2018 bankruptcy, which saw the Casino closed until its reopening on January 26, 2022. Asking whether, amid memory, renewal, loss, and hope, Campione will truly be able to reinvent itself, the film collects testimonies from citizens who recount past dreams and new challenges.

Born in Zurich in 1976, Michele Cirigliano is the author of the documentaries Quando si uccideva il maiale (2011), Padrone e sotto (2014), and Football Inside (2021). Trained in set design, Anton von Bredow (Hamburg, 1996) makes his directorial debut with Architettura della felicità.

The Ticino premieres, in the presence of the directors, will take place at Cinema Otello in Ascona on Friday, September 19, at 8:00 PM and at Cinema Iride in Lugano on Saturday, September 20, at 6:00 PM.