VENICE. “Today there are many more right-wing governments than I remember in my entire life, and I am 56 years old. Hungary, Poland, India, Brazil, America with Trump, and now also in Italy the pendulum is swinging to the right. A very dangerous condition ». This was stated by Mark Cousins, director of the documentary «Marcia Su Roma» which tells of «the deceptions of fascism» and opens today the Venice Film Festival’s Days as a Special Out of Competition event.
A documentary destined to be discussed twenty-five days after the vote in Italy. The film is inspired by the rereading of “A Noi” by Umberto Paradisi in 1923, the official document of the Fascist Party on the days that brought Benito Mussolini to power. A story that, according to the director, “is full of fake news and deceptions”. «Why did I choose to present this film now? First of all because this year marks the centenary of the March on Rome, but also for a slightly more global reason – he explains -. In fact, the far right is not interested in the problem of migrants, minorities, the poor, those in difficulty, so it is very important that people understand how dangerous all this is ». “I think there are two things that have shown us how much we all belong to the same species: Covid and global warming. These are the two great challenges that humanity must face and which should unite us and not divide us. Instead, right-wing governments tend to be divisive, they think they are special, and they make a classification ‘we are the good, you are the bad’, and that people have to understand. ‘
In the film, the images of the Luce Archive are accompanied by the narrative voice of the director himself and by the presence of Alba Rohrwacher in the role of Anna, a woman of the working class who embodies the sentiment of ordinary people, first exalted supporter of the regime and then disillusioned and criticism.
Cousins knows perfectly well that the Italian elections will take place in less than a month, and that the right is favored for victory in all polls. And he does not shy away from a “strong” reflection on this perspective: “When you hear an important Italian politician (Giorgia Meloni, ndr) give a speech in Spain in which he says “No to LGBTQ rights and yes instead to the universality of the cross” you worry, because these are terms and words used by the Crusaders in 1100. It is something that goes very close to the theory of white replacement or to demonize Islam. I find it dangerous, but obviously it’s up to the Italians to decide ». And, as an artist, he is keen to add a reflection to the address of the leader of the Brothers of Italy: «Giorgia Meloni says“ Artists are against me, they hate the right ”. But this is not the case: if you look at the past, in particular Italy, the artists supported Mussolini and also made themselves an instrument of his propaganda. Perhaps, the question should be asked as to why artists are against the right …. ».