My Place Is Here
LOGLINE
A 30-days journey inside a hospital. A unique document on the Western World facing the unknown. A crew observes and shows, for the first time, the emotional burden and the luminous gestures that connect the medical staff and the COVID-19 patients during the outbreak of the pandemic.
SYNOPSIS
Lombardy, Italy – March 2020.
A small camera team enters the wards of the hospital of Brescia, that is dramatically facing the first pandemic peak of COVID-19. It respectfully observes moments of what is the new and partly unknown daily activity in it. But most of all, they show the intimacy that is created between patients and medical staff, beyond the inevitable isolation barriers. Moments of uncertainty, pain, fragility and humility intertwine and are especially expressed through the unspoken details that hold us somewhere between symphony and tragedy.
DIRECTOR’S VISION 
Whenever I think of a doctor, I think of my mother Silvia, a tireless and generous pediatrician. Since childhood I’ve been fascinated by the way she works, completely dedicated to the care of children, whether they are her young patients or not, always available far beyond working hours.
When the pandemic hit Italy and the hospitals began to admit patients in massive waves, I thought of the many Silvias, hard and dedicated workers who make an essential contribution to their community. For this reason I did not want to portray the medical staff as impersonal heroes. Rather, I was interested in grasping the complexity and the essence of those moments.
The key feature of this complex situation was the isolation of patients, a condition equally painful for the patients as for the medical staff. The only people able to be with patients and to comfort them were doctors and nurses, but those only possible human contacts were through barriers, even in the critical moments on the point of death. This tragic loneliness comes out again and again in the documentary.
Since I had no time for location surveys, I had to write the story while filming it together with my mate and DoP Luca Gennari. From the first days of shooting I decided it was going to be a collective story. Hence, the leading role is played by the entire community of medical staff and their patients.
I chose to film from the point of view of an eyewitness, like if I were one of the protagonists. I prefer not to define or impose a rigid point of view in my films, because I’d like the audience to be the more free as possible to interpret what they are watching.
Check out the official web site of the movie with exclusive contents and interviews.
Credits
Director & Producer
Michele Aiello
Story
Michele Aiello, Luca Gennari
Cinematographer
Luca Gennari
Editor
Corrado Iuvara
Music
Francesco Ambrosini
Sound design e Mix
Massimo Mariani
Fullcode SAS
Color
Corrado Iuvara
Production
ZALAB FILM SRL e Michele Aiello
In collaboration with
RCE Foto Verona and Comune di Brescia-Film Commission
Distribution
Maud Corino, ZALAB FILM
distribution@zalabfilm.eu
+39 333 6127483
www.zalab.org
International Press Office
Dagny Kleber, NOISE Film PR
dagny@noisefilmpr.com
+49 (0) 171-4024803
www.noisefilmpr.com
Prizes And Screenings
- Biografilm Festival 2021: Best Film Award Biografilm Italia
- Visions du Reel 2021: Grand Angle
- Ortigia Film Festival 2021 – in competition
