There is no place in Italy as beautiful and as filled with diverse culture as the southern Italian island of Sicily. And yet no place has been abused more — by wars, invasions and more recently, pollution — the latter pointed out hauntingly by filmmakers François-Xavier Destors and Alfonso Pinto in their impressive ode to this modern “wasteland.”
The south of Italy is filled with ancient cultural influences and beautiful landscapes, so much so that it is impossible to think of them as part of the same country. Until Count Cavour’s Risorgimento in the 19th century, in fact, they were different lands, with unique leaderships and speaking varied dialects — some which don’t even sound like Italian. I dare you to have a chat with a native Sicilian, or a Neapolitan and you’ll feel like you should have learned Arabic or Spanish, even if you are a fluent Italian speaker.
With their stunning yet heartbreaking documentary, Toxicily, which just world premiered at the 64th Festival dei Popoli in Florence this past weekend, filmmakers François-Xavier Destors and Alfonso Pinto take us into one such land. But theirs is not a fairy tale. Rather a cautionary one.
Archimede a Augusta is a small town best known to contemporary cinema audiences as the place where you see Indy Jones land, along with the Nazi Dr. Jürgen Voller, in the latest installment of the franchise Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It is in the province of Siracusa in southeastern Sicily, where tourists flock each year to see the Greek amphitheater as well as the various Greek temples that dot the territory’s landscape.
Yet, just a few minutes drive from the city is a polluted wasteland where its citizen have become caught in a conundrum, having to come to terms daily on whether to die of starvation or die of cancer. Yes, the big “C” because since the early 50’s the area is host to one of the biggest oil refineries in Europe. With its giant furnaces and the high flue-gas stacks that chillingly resemble minarets, this larger than life industrial conglomerate has created jobs for the region, but has also been the cause of early death rates, birth defects in much of the population, as well as having polluted the environment in ways that we will never be able to repair.
But if you think this is just “their problem,” think again!
In their directors’ statement, Pinto and Destors perfectly state why the issues of the territories of Augusta-Priolo-Melilli- Siracusa are global ones:
“This area offers us perhaps the ultimate proof of the broken illusions of post-war liberalism, of that globalized ideal now on its last legs, of the absence of justice, science and politics in environmental matters and, ultimately, of that toxic coexistence between man and factory.”
Filmmakers François-Xavier Destors and Alfonso Pinto, courtesy of the festival
The issue of pollution in the south of Italy is not only a socio-economic one but comes from the prevalence there of organized crime as well. In Campania, where Naples is, the infamous Camorra runs most of the industries and is known to dump garbage and toxic waste everywhere it suits them, even in their own backyard. There is a part of Campania that is called “Terra dei fuochi” or “land of fires”— referring to the constant fumes of toxic waste which is both burned and buried in the area.
This points to the Camorra’s ignorance, which paired with a lack of resources within the Italian government, always so busy pointing out the wrongs of the leaders of the “other party” instead of actually building something good for its citizens makes for a deadly combination. Because where a government lacks, the Mafia fills in, with dubious policies and unorthodox practices.
What is stunning about Toxicily is that while the subject matter is downright tragic, the way the film is shot and how its stories are told, is both visually stunning and emotionally relatable. From the priest Don Palmiro, whose ideals have made his life very difficult amongst the corporate corruption of his town, to the young Chiara who is affected by an ailment since childhood caused by the pollution, and Nino, now blind yet a fighter, to Andrea and his wisdoms, but also Mariangela trying to hold a family together while battling the doubts growing within her and Giusi, an advocate and attorney since the death of her father, we find our own fears examined. We see a painting, a visual canvas of what our future is like, if we continue to overlook the environment for our own selfish gains.
Punctuating this painting are nighttime images of the refineries captured by the filmmakers all sparkling and lit up, spewing fumes into the air that look like cute Disney clouds. It’s a tragic reminder that not all which glitters is gold, and that sometimes the more austere, yet precious beauty of nature is worth saving, at the risk of our livelihood perhaps…
I found Toxicity a masterpiece and cannot imagine why an A-list festival hasn’t grabbed it to screen it. But the ways of corruptions are infinite… To paraphrase a religious credo.
So kudos for the wonderful Florentine documentary festival for their courage!
A little background on the Festival dei Popoli then. Founded in 1959 by a group of human science scholars, anthropologists, sociologists, ethnologists and mass media scientists, the Italian institution of Festival dei Popoli has been involved in the promotion and study of social documentary cinema for sixty years.
For more information, check out the festival’s website.
Images courtesy of the Festival dei Popoli, used with permission.