Screening of Canfod Prize Winner 2019: BassiL’ora

Giuseppe Bassi, a lively centenarian, tells his story of captivity in Russia during the Second World War. From 1942 to 1946 Giuseppe was a prisoner in a number of Russian camps where he encountered a wealth of people and their incredible stories. The documentary focuses on Giuseppe’s conversations with actress Karina Arutyunyan, who plays the part of a Russian woman whose grandfather fought on the Russian side during the Second World War. The two characters in this story are emotionally very close yet radically different: while Giuseppe and his experience are both real, Katerina is a fictional character. Fact and fiction come together to paint a portrait of war, loss and survival.

Jury’s motivation for the prize:

Director Rebecca Basso reveals this unusual page of Italian military history with empathy and elegance. The two characters – the real-life former prisoner of war and the actress who plays the Russian interviewer – draw us in this incredible story in their own way. The former in an almost matter of fact way, having told it so many times before, and the latter rather emotionally, as the younger person hearing about the cruelty of her own people. The positive message of courage, determination and bravery comes across and must inspire us all. The animation did not work as well as the many drawings Bassi produced over the 4 years he spent in concentration camps.