Untitled - Ellipsis

SYNOPSIS:
A cinematic journey into Bangland, a city in a dystopian America where Steven Spielberg
is President and has declared war on the African State of Mahaba. In this climate of terror,
anybody who is not white is considered a potential terrorist.
In the run-up to presidential elections that could spell the end of the Spielberg
administration, some residents of Bangland cross paths: Charlie Tucano and Tony Beretta,
modern inquisitors on the payroll of Gold, a television preacher and prominent religious
figure; Loogie Boogie, an Irish loan shark dealing with his dysfunctional family; and Dante
Blank, a television writer that has piqued Gold’s interest.
DIRECTOR’S NOTES:
The idea behind “Bangland” came to me during my first year at the International Film
Academy in Pescara, Italy. I showed a comic book I had made to two of my professors:
Alessandro and Cristiano Di Felice, founders of both the school and an independent
production company, Rò Film. As a result of this, we decided to develop the project into a
short animated film which, after a few years of work, was released as “Too Bad”.
“Too Bad” was extremely successful at several international film festivals, so we decided
to extend it into both an animated series and a feature film entitled “Bangland”.
“Bangland” is the first animated feature film to have a single animator personally drawing
the entire film frame by frame and supervising every aspect of its visuals: from character
design to sets painted in watercolor, as well as directing and photography. This gives the
film a totally unique and innovative look that is a far cry from standardized modern
animation.
The idea at the heart of the script is to tackle current issues such as politics, war,
terrorism, religion and mass media through an original and creative combination of genres:
satire, film noir, black comedy, action and thriller. The film has an ensemble cast of
characters, each of which is as important to the story as the socio-political scenario where
the action takes place.
Lorenzo Berghella
LORENZO BERGHELLA
He was born in 1990 in Pescara. From 2009 to 2012 he attended the School of Cinema
IFA (International Film Academy) in Pescara.
He wrote the story "Too bad," which in 2013 became a short film which he directed, he
followed the script, the animation and the editing; in 2014-2015, "Too bad" becomes a
series of animation broadcast on the web and on TV.
"Too bad" won many awards: Best Animated Short Films at Mumbai 'Carnival, Best Film at
the Berlin Short Film Festival, Bronze to' International Independent Film Award, Special
Mention at the LA Neo-Noir Film Fest, Merit Award for animation all'Indie Fest, Merit
Award for animation all'Accolade Global Film Competition, Mention for Best Technical
Contribution-Artistic animation at Overlook CinemAvvenire in Rome .
There are also many international festivals that have selected the work of Lorenzo
Berghella: the Crossroads Film Festival in Mississippi, the Albuquerque Film Festival in
New Mexico, the Athens Animfest, the XIX International TV Festival Bar in Montenegro,
the George Lindsey UNA Film Festival in Alabama, the Viewster Online Film Festival in
Switzerland, the Santa Monica Independent Film Fest, WV Filmmakers Festival in West
Virginia, the Oakland Underground Film Festival, the Woodstock Film Festival Museum,
the Mosaic World Film Festival in Rockford Illinois The MAshRome Film Fest in Rome, the
American Online Film Awards in New York, Oregon Underground Film Festival, the
Hamilton Film Festival in Canada and 30under30 Film Festival in New York.
BANGLAND: THE FIRST ACHIEVEMENT BY THE COLLETTIVO
MINA (MINA COLLECTIVE)
I am proud to present “Bangland” by Lorenzo Berghella. Berghella is a man of
extraordinary talent, and I would like to share the credit for discovering his incredible work
with the film’s co-producers, Alessandro and Cristiano Di Felice, themselves a marvelous
discovery in their own right. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the rest of the
production team, who supported me throughout this exciting adventure called
LABORATORI DEL COLLETTIVO MINA (MINA COLLECTIVE TRAINING SCHOOL).
LABORATORI DEL COLLETTIVO MINA is the framework through which the film was
partly conceived and perfected, and so I would also like to thank my team-mates there.
Together, we have committed to delivering a new teaching model throughout Italy. This
innovative didactic model was conceived of and developed in Scampia, a suburb of
Naples. From there, it moved to Rome, Pescara, Formia and Firenze, and then travelled
towards Salento, Veneto, Sardinia, and Basilicata. “Bangland” is the first tangible result of
a quest to find new talent and new ways of narrating the unique characters of the different
parts of Italy, with the help of those who actually live there.
The producers supporting LABORATORI DEL COLLETTIVO MINA are Angelo Barbagallo,
Luigi and Olivia Musini, Domenico Procacci, Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Carlotta
Calori, Andrea Occhipinti, Marco Belardi, Tilde Corsi and Gianni Romoli.
The COLLETTIVO MINA was named after Gelsomina Verde, an innocent victim of the
Camorra. Aside from myself, the collective includes the COMITATO VELE DI SCAMPIA,
C.S.O. INSURGENCIA and FRANCESCO VERDE.
To date, the three COLLETTIVO MINA training schools have collaborated with The
Vodisca Theatre in Naples, the Cinema America Occupato in Roma and the International
Film Academy in Pescara.
Gianluca Arcopinto