20 September 2012

In the name of the Italian people


Directed by Gabriele Del Grande and Stefano Liberti
Editing Chiara Russo, Photography Enrico Parenti

Family fathers, female workers, young boys and girls born in Italy. Many of them arrive every day in the Identification and Expulsion centres (CIE) of Rome. They did not commit any crime, nevertheless they risk to spend 18 months behind bars waiting to be expelled. They detention is validated by a Justice of the Peace. In the name of the Italian People. An expired visa is enough. According to the law. And this is also enough to reassure public opinion and delete the problem. However we decided to go and take a look. A short doc came out of it, a journey made of images and stories from the CIE of Roma. Since we believe that showing those places and listen to those voices means breaking a definition. As well as confirming that no human being is illegal. Not even when the law say so.

In the name of the Italian people is the first of a series of short documentaries produced by ZaLab with the support of Open Society Foundations on the serious democratic emergency in today Italy.