Sloi. La città degli invisibili is produced by the UCT Cultural Association in collaboration with the Autonomous Province of Trento, the History Museum Foundation of Trentino, the Caritro Foundation of Trento and Audiovisual Format Centre of the Province of Trento, and made by Krmovie of Trento. This documentary film retraces the different stages of the story of the Sloi factory in Trento, from its establishment during the Fascist years to its dramatic closure in 1978, due to an explosion which caused a fire that could have engulfed the whole town. The Sloi was set up as a war factory in 1940 to produce tetraethyl lead for the Air Force, the liquid that was mixed with petrol as an anti-knocking agent. The Sloi was a great opportunity for a town which was turning from rural to industrial activities: it would create job opportunities and wealth. But tetraethyl lead is a highly toxic substance that provokes symptoms similar to those of alcohol addiction, triggering a fatal process that starts with madness and ends with death. The Sloi, with its thousands of poisoned and many dead people, was the symbol of an economic system which today still exchanges life for money.
The creative and technical film crew of this documentary was partly the result of the workshop Raccontare l'avventura of last year TrentoFilmfestival.
Directors
KATIA BERNARDI
She graduated in History of Cinema at DAMS (Show, music and art disciplines school) in Bologna. She received the Under 30’s award at the Backstage International Festival of Bologna in 1998 and the Sacchi Cinematographic award. She worked for the production companies Filmmaster in Roma, Colorado in Milano and, as television editor for satellite channel Cinecinema of Tele+. She wrote and directed several commercials and she gives workshops on cinema production. She has a cinema column on the local pages of Corriere del Trentino. Since 1999 she has produced and directed documentaries with her own production company she founded in 2004, the KRMovie.
Luca Bergamaschi
He graduated in sociology at the University in Trento in 2002 and followed up his studies participating in the Leonardo project at Agat Film in Paris where he attended a course for cameramen. In 2003 he took a Master degree in documentary film at the School of Cinema in Milan. Since 2004 he has worked as editor and cameraman at the French production company Peignoir Production in Paris. During his 4 professional years he has shot and edited institutional, corporate, current affairs and documentary films. His films as a director include: Gianatonio Manci, un uomo da non archiviare (2008), L'Europa e l'integrazione mussulmana (2008), Chaperon de Loup (2008), La leggenda dei Butteri (2007) and Finché vivro', noi siamo i Cremonesi- frammenti di vita da stadio (2004).