Event

We Weren't Given Anything for Free

We Weren't Given Anything for Free
Dir. Eric Esser andCaro Krugmann (Germany/Italy 2014)
Run Time: 1 Hour
Feature Documenatry
Friday May 25th 6:00 PM
5 euro
ARCAM

Annita Malavasi was just 22 when the Germans occupied Italy, their former allies, in 1943. As a partisan in the Italian resistance named Laila, she moved throughout the Apennines with and between fighting units, delivering information, transporting weapons, and taking part in battles. She spent over a year in the Apennines, fighting against the German occupation. At the same time, she had to assert herself against the men of the mountain villages. By the end of the war, Laila had risen among the ranks to become one of the few female commanders in the Italian resistance.

This film chronicles the story of a lifelong struggle for emancipation that began with the battle for Italys liberation from fascism. Laila and her two comrades, Gina Sonia Moncigoli and Pierina Iva Bonilauri talk about their time in the Resistenza and what it meant to them and many other women.

An hour of interesting old women debating dialectics and violent revolution over cake. These people are amazing and have amazing stories to tell. In fact it almost becomes an anti-documentary, passing comment on the fidgeting imagination of the modern audience who find it hard to listen to the most amazing tales without cut-away shots and contextual photographs.
Jack Brindelli