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Mamme Volanti

Flying Mothers

ITALY / 14 MIN / 2022 / DOCUMENTARY / 4K / 16:9 / MONO / COLOR
Subtitles available: English, Spanish
In one of the wealthiest and most polluted zones in Italy, a group of brave and stubborn women fight to save their territory and their children, revealing a new perspective on the world. People call them Flying Mothers.
Nella provincia di Brescia, una delle zone più ricche, benestanti, e inquinate dell’Italia, un gruppo di donne, coraggiose e ostinate lotta per salvare il proprio territorio e i propri figli, svelando una nuova prospettiva da cui guardare il mondo. La comunità le chiama Mamme Volanti.
En una de las zonas más ricas y contaminadas de Italia, un grupo de mujeres obstinadas, valientes y corajudas, en su lucha por salvar su territorio y sus hijos, nos da una nueva perspectiva desde donde observar el mundo. La comunidad las llama Mamás Voladoras.

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Festivals & Awards

Festival Indipendente di Cinema Breve Via dei Corti (Italy, 2022) – winner Premio della Giuria Giovane
Wood Film Fest (Italy, 2023) – winner Premio Luci & Ombre / Rep – MIGLIOR REPORTAGE
Karawan Fest (Italy, 2023) – Special Mention
Sole Luna Doc (Italy, 2022)
Phlegraean Film Festival (Italy, 2022)
Festival Luoghi dell’Anima (Italy, 2023)
Cinema e Ambiente Avezzano (Italy, 2023)
Festival Francesco Pasinetti (Italy, 2023)
Social World Film Festival (Italy, 2023)
FIC BOSA (Colombia, 2023)
Ariano Film Festival (Italy, 2023)
Lonely Wolf International Film Festival – Summer (UK, 2023) – Semi-Finalist
SUNCINE Barcelona International Environmental Film Festival (Spain, 2023)
Bio Film Festival (Italy, 2023)
Mediterraneo Video Corto (Italy, 2023)
Festival Internacional de Cine de las Yungas (Argentina, 2024) 
Rosarno Film Fest (Italy, 2023)
Il Corto.it – Festa di Roma 2023 (Italy, 2023)
Bogocine – Festival Internacional de Cine de Bogota (Colombia, 2023)
Glocal Doc Festival (Italy, 2023)

Press Reviews & Interviews

  • “…è meno risaputo che esiste anche nel nord Italia una Terra dei Fuochi, il territorio Bresciano”.  Qui Brescia
  • “La lotta per un ambiente più pulito diventa un film”. Il Giorno. 
Mamme volanti, Giulio Tonincelli, Documentario, short film, shortsfit, shortsfit distribucion, film distribution, short film distribution, distribuzione cortometraggi, cinema italiano

Note di regia

L’impulso iniziale che muove i nostri intenti scaturisce dal problema delle malattie legate al degrado ambientale. Ci siamo focalizzati su Brescia, la provincia in cui siamo nati e cresciuti, una delle più ricche e benestanti del paese, ma anche uno dei siti industriali più inquinati d’Europa.
In questo contesto, inquinamento atmosferico, impianti di trattamento e smaltimento rifiuti sovradimensionati, centinaia di cave, discariche abusive e aree avvelenate dall’industria chimica e biologica compromettono aria, acqua e sottosuolo. Tanto che si osservano da anni eccedenze di malattie respiratorie e di patologie tumorali.
Dove c’è ricchezza vige anche ipocrisia politica e sociale, tutti tendono a negare le problematiche. Durante la nostra ricerca abbiamo incontrato alcune donne audaci e testarde che, riconoscendosi nel sentimento di cura, di protezione e custodia nei confronti della vita, capiscono ben presto che l’ambiente inquinato ha un impatto negativo sulla propria salute e quella delle proprie figlie… 
Con questo credo le “Mamme di Castenedolo” si sono organizzate spostando in alto il proprio punto di vista, sia fisico sia morale, raccontando e documentando il massacro del proprio territorio. La comunità le chiama Mamme Volanti.

Director’s notes

The initial impulse that moves our aim comes from the problem of the development of different diseases related to environmental degradation. We focused on Brescia, the province where we were born and raised, one of the richest and wealthiest in the country, as well as one of the most polluted industrial sites in Europe.
In this context, the air, water and subsoil are compromised by pollution, oversized implants for the treatment and disposal of waste, hundreds of quarries, illegal landfills and poisoned areas, polluted by the chemical and biological industry. So much so that for years there have been surpluses of respiratory diseases and cancer pathologies.
Wealth sometimes comes along with political and social hypocrisy, and everyone tends to deny the problems. During our research we met some bold and stubborn women who identify themselves in the feelings of care, protection and custody towards life, and they could immediately understand how the polluted environment has had a negative impact on their own health and that of their daughters and sons.
With this belief, the “Mothers of Castenedolo” organised themselves in a group and raised their point of view, both in a a physical and in a moral way, by telling and documenting the massacre of their territory. The community calls them Flying Mothers.

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directed by

Giulio Tonincelli, Paolo Fossati

produced by

Moonwalk Studio

cinematography by

Giulio Tonincelli

additional camera

Marco Scotuzzi

editing by

Giulio Tonincelli

editing supervisors

Sebastiano Luca Insinga, Stefano De Felici

sound mix by

Bruno Belissimo

music & mix audio by

Bruno Belissimo

aerial photograph by

Mattia Marzorati

artwork by

Michela Nava

festival distribution and world sales

giulio's bio

Giulio Tonincelli is an independent filmmaker and programmer at Orvieto Cinema Fest. He achieves projects with several NGOs traveling through the Middle East, India, Latin America and Africa, approaching and discovering the cinema of real. His short documentaries have been selected in over 20 countries including festivals Oscar Qualifying such as ShortShorts in Japan, Odense in Denmark, Palm Springs and Rhode Island in the United States.

paolo's bio

Paolo Fossati is a film critic, lecturer and cultural animator. He writes for the newspaper Giornale di Brescia and since 2011 he has been teaching at the SantaGiulia Academy of Fine Arts in Brescia (Audiovisual Theory, Ethics of Communication, Multimedia Design and Psycho-Sociology of Cultural Consumption). He is among the authors of the book Fare Scuola con il Cinema - Edizioni Sabinae (2017), a collection of essays on the educational use of films, with Gianni Amelio, Bruno Bozzetto, Gian Piero Brunetta and Carlo Freccero.