Bitter Years

A docu-fiction focusing on writer Pier Vittorio Tondelli who died in 1991 at the age of 36, due to AIDS. Tondelli is known not only for being one of Europe’s greatest storytellers but also for being one of the sharpest voices of his time. He was the writer of Other Libertines, his first work and a cult novel among young people of the 80s, subject to seizure in L’Aquila for obscenity and outrage against the public morals of the time. Yet, Tondelli’s novel was not only a transgressive writing but also a literary project that allowed the linguistic mixing of registers, sectors and even dialectisms. The film sets out in search of the places where the writer had the opportunity to live, starting from Correggio, where he was born, up to Bologna, the aforementioned L’Aquila, and then Orvieto, on which his second novel focuses, to continue with Rome, Milan, and Berlin.

Nightfall. Marco, a politician, is murdered while he is going home. Also Luca, a gay man, is going home, where his partner Paolo is waiting. But he is on the killer's way, and he is shot. Paolo dashes to the hospital but the doctor doesn't want to tell him anything because Paolo isn't a "real" relative. Luca dies. Paolo starts walking in the streets of the town, where his loneliness will be ever misunderstood. A barman tries to comfort him supposing he was discharged by his girlfriend. Luca's mother orders Paolo to leave the house. A guy takes Paolo to him's, looking for a partner in the night. Paolo runs away from everybody, also from his friend Francesca: she says she is understanding but she can't. While the dawn is coming, Paolo reads about the murders on the newspapers, and realizes that what happened was reality.

In 1982, for the first time in Europe, a government body provided a meeting place for gays. And what a place! It was a 13th-century tower, part of the ancient city wall. The Cassero di Porta Saragozza was one of the most important milestones in the history of the Italian LGBT community. This was also a monumental step for the social evolution of Bologna. The film shows the main stages which led the city council to make this unusual decision and the activities of Cassero in its early years. These begin from the 80's, and we see the movement change from a revolutionary organisation fighting for rights for gays to an established institution playing a central role in the cultural life of Bologna. Rediscovered photos and videos, performances by drag queens and the history of the organisation told by its protagonists.

A detective is investigating on Andres Carrera, speech-writer of a politician man. Andres disappeared during the electoral campaign. The detective slowly 'penetrates' in Andres' life: he begins to live at Andres' home; to work at Andres' office; to meet Andres' parents; to seek a sort of relation with Andres' wife and colleagues. The election campaign is going on, but nobody can write so 'poetic' and so 'politic' speeches as Andres did. What is the secret of his speeches? Why his nickname was "Whitman", like American poet? Why Andres disappeared and where he is now? And why the detective is so interested in it, beyond his professional task? Maybe being in relation with Andres parents and wife will reveal every solution to the detective. Or it will include everything in a dream...

The movie is divided in 4 sections. The 1st one is about the 70s, when Italian society discovered the "sex, drugs and rock'n roll" culture. Many witnesses are interviewed about their own experiences as drug addicts or sex consumers: mainly the incoming "gay liberation" politics are focused. The 2nd part is about the 80s: HIV comes to Italy from the USA and it becomes a tragic disease. Through the stories told by the witnesses we can get the atmosphere of fear and panic around the first victims, and also the first attempts of the medical researchers to stop the infection. The 3rd part is about the 90s. Now the witnesses speak about the new "life style" of the Hiv-positive people: they don't die anymore, but can live thanks to new medicines, and so the problems are wider and more complex. The 4th part is about the first decade of the new century, when new items come out in this field: the most important items are the non-awareness among younger people and the spreading of "barebacking".