IL DRAGO DI ROMAGNA by Gerardo Lamattina

THE DRAGON OF ROMAGNA by Gerardo Lamattina

Italy, China, 2020, 71'

SYNOPSIS

Luisa, a classic "azdora" (lady) from Romagna, has had a dream since her husband was still alive: to fly to China to learn about the origins of Mah Jong, the Chinese game for which everyone in Romagna has a real passion. In disagreement with her daughter and amidst a thousand adventures full of irony, emotions and conflicts, she will try to make it come true with the complicity of her grandson and her new Italian-Chinese friends. 

BIOGRAPHY

Gerardo Lamattina (Italy, 1965) is a film director with a passion for technology, new media and the history and criticism of social media. He has directed and starred in several short films that have been awarded and distributed on TV and in major national and international festivals. In 2017 he wrote produced and directed his first feature film Cimitero azzurro. He is the author of documentaries with a particular focus on social issues. He loves dogs, cats, donkeys and whales. He hates punctuation and loves to play the flaneur. He has a degree in History of Cinema, but defines himself more as a cinephile than a cinephile. However, among his favourite authors he mentions Alejandro González Iñárritu, in particular Amores Perros, Emir Kusturica, in particular Underground, Joao Monteiro, in particular The Comedy of God (A Comédia de Deus), David Lynch, in particular Eraserhead and his first short films, Carmelo Bene, only cinema, in particular Our Lady of the Turks and Salome. Among the films: Il sorpasso, La ricotta, Incompreso, La grande abbuffata, Riflessi sulla pelle (The Reflecting Skin), L'era glaciale (Ice Age) in particular 2 (The Thaw). Among the writers Kurt Vonnegut in particular some aphorisms, John Maxwell "J. M." Coetzee in particular Disgrace, Friedrich Nietzsche in particular Human Too Human, Arundhati Roy in particular The God of Small Things and finally some poems by Jacques Prévert and Mariangela Gualtieri. "My reflection in the mirror has almost always encouraged me to keep going... animals (almost all of them) make me happy. Work makes you tired, but holidays are no joke either". 

FILMOGRAPHY

Short films: 

• Perché tanto cielo (1996), 
• Boccaperta (1998), 
• L’ultima boa (2000), 
• Alma story (2009), 
• Basta poco per cambiare (2010), 
• Prima che faccia buio (2013). 

Documentaries: 

• Io ho un nome (2004), 
• Nella pietra e nel vento (incroci musicali tra oriente e occidente) (2005), 
• Oltre il giardino (i luoghi in comune) (2007), 
• Mumbay’s way (2008), 
• XXY (2011), 
• Falling (2013)

Feature films: 

• Cimitero azzurro (2017)