Stones and Words

Synopsis

Stefano is a young director reluctant to accept the task of directing a film about a poet: staging the work of the poet is not easy to do. However, when Stefano meets Rosanna, the protagonist of the documentary, a special bond arises between the two. The young director and the elderly poet discover that they share an unusual interest: a passion for stones. Swapping their favourite stones, Stefano and Rosanna find themselves children again and forget about the years that separate them. Between suspended landscapes of expanses of stones, an intimate and delicate film journey takes place; the result is the portrait of a poet who is never seen writing verses: when she talks about poetry, she does it by talking about stones. Because, as Rosanna believes, poetry exists even without words.

DIRECTOR’S NOTES

I didn’t know Rosanna Bertoja before I was commissioned to make a film about her. I was initially reluctant to direct a film about a poetess. Not because I was not interested in the subject, but because bringing poetry to the big screen is not an easy task. When I met Rosanna, I found a sweet and kind woman, of that disarming lightness that is also the subject of her poetry. That meeting convinced me to make a film about her. After Pozzis, Samarcanda, I was hoping I’d never have to go back in front of the camera again. However, this time I realized that I was part of the story I wanted to tell and I found myself again a character in the film. Nevertheless, if in Pozzis, Samarcanda being the director and a character at the same time had been a burden, this time it happened the opposite. Now, thinking back to the days of filming Claps and Peraulis, I remember nothing but joy and light-heartedness. Rosanna reminded me that making movies isn’t necessarily hard work, but it can be fun. Also, I realized that making poetry through cinema is possible.

Stefano Giacomuzzi

Credits

Year: 2023
Production: Agherose
Director and screenplay: Stefano Giacomuzzi
Director of Photography: Debora Vrizzi
Music: Paolo Forte

Produced by Dorino Minigutti and Anna Di Toma

Developed and created with the contribution of the Audiovisual Fund of Friuli Venezia Giulia 

Festival

  • Edera Film Festival – section “Documentari” 2024;
  • Bloomsday Film Festival – section “Literature Shorts” 2024;
  • Visioni Italiane – section “Visioni Doc” 2023;
  • Pordenonelegge 2023.