MY LAST DAY OF WAR
One of the most important and winning Italian Short Movie of 2009. Production notes: “My Last Day of War” is a 19 minute short film set in World War II and recounts the story of the first and only meeting between an Italian farmer from the province of Romagna (Andrea Vasumi) and two rival military forces, German and American. From this encounter, the adventure then unfolds centered around the attempt on the part of young “Balduccio” to create peace between the adversaries whilst trying to save his own life in the process. The courage and sincerity of the youth bring about ironic and paradoxical situations that analyze the tragic world of war from an innovative and profound point of view. Scenes of attempts at escape, exchanges of food, and a crucial fatal meeting with a young woman follow.After all this, we discover that it is actually a story which is being told by an old farmer (Ivano Marescotti), intent on recounting his usual anecdote to his grandson who, enchanted by his grandfather’s simple words, listens to the story of this “first and last day of war”. Directed by Matteo Tondini, youngest winner of a "Gryphon Award" at Giffoni Film Festival, and captured by renowned Director of Photography Fabio Cianchetti, one of the greats in Italian cinema, winner of a nastro d’argento (silver ribbon) for “the dreamers” by Bernardo Bertolucci and a David di Donatello for “Canone Inverso” by Ricky Tognazzi. The screenplay and the music are by Marco Tondini, winner of Best Screenplay at the International Festival in Rome, “Il corto.it”, in 2008. Wardrobe was realized by the critically acclaimed theatre costume designer “Steve Almerighi” (12 time winner, Tokyo), and 2008 winner of Best Costume Design for “la bella Giulia” at the International Festival in Rome, “Il corto.it”. Supporting these professionals were another 35 specialized technical staff from all over Italy who worked for 5 days in October in the hills in the province of Romagna near Riolo Terme. With the help of Producers Valentino Peduli and Marco Tondini, for “My Last Day of War” we were able make use of the very best cinematographic digital technologies present in today’s market. In fact, the film was shot with RED ONE, an innovative film camera with a 4K chip (equivalent to 35mm) which has been used in the making of many International films. During these past several months, considerable media (newspaper and television) attention has given exposure to this project by Tondini Production, including relevant coverage on Movieplayer, My Movies, Best Movie and Rai 3 – a major Italian television network that has featured important spots and previews of the film. The reconstruction of every element in the film was entrusted to the talented Cosimo Tinelli, one of the military consultant to Spike Lee for “Miracle at Saint Ann”, and directly from this American film comes the German uniform, worn by actor Luigi Bettoli in the short “My Last Day of War”. Apart from the military uniforms of the two companies (American and German); the weaponry, the famous Willis Jeep and the German BMW sidecar were original finds deliberately for this project. To enrich the scenography, a German military plane was perfectly rebuilt. The cast, combines such professionals as Ivano Marescotti (Hannibal,Jonny Stecchino, King Arthur) and Andrea Vasumi ( Zelig Off and Romagna Ridens comedian) and others such as Matteo Fiori (one of the two Americans), Luigi Bettoli (one of the two Germans),the beautiful Anna Baldini- the only female presence in the whole film. "My last Day of War" It is undoubtedly one of the most important independent productions in Italy in 2009. Olly Film, the cultural association which financed part of the film, has delegated Tondini Production responsible for organizing the promotion and distribution of the project. In the course of the last few months, the short has received very positive criticism and praise from journalists, international juries, producers and the public, winning a Gryphon Award at the Giffoni FF 2009, 42 awards won since march 2011 , in competition to more than 70 Festival, projected in 13 nations. The american premiere was made at New York state University at Stony Brook theatre on october 24th 2009 with great audience success. Although the details of film screenings are good 28 days of screenings subdivided into 5 cinemas in the Romagna for a total of 1,450 paying spectators, these facts suggest that "My last day of the war" has the potential to become one of Italian short films more important in recent years.
