Freddo dentro

“Freddo dentro” is the first fiction work by Valerio Burli, a young director graduated in Cinema Reportage at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, which already has some important works (documentary, spots, video clips) and even a backstage for Nicolas Winding Refn. The matrix of reportage and attention to reality is also visible in the short produced by Baburka. The cold is, in fact, what we all have inside, the brutal indifference that makes us immerse ourselves in our daily routine without ever having the courage or the will to look at those left behind, who fell to the ground, or into the water. Exactly as happened to Pateh Sabally, twenty-two year old boy originally from Gambia, who committed suicide last January in Venice, before the indifferent looks of the passengers of a vaporetto passed a few meters from the boy.

The director himself declares that “the inspiration came after the suicide of Pateh Sabally, the young migrant who threw himself into the Grand Canal of Venice without anyone intervening to save him”. In fact, the short film is dedicated to Pateh, the unfortunate emblem of indifference to which we too often yield, making us less and less human every day. It is the force of habit that condemns us, which allows us to turn our heads away when a boy throws himself, desperate, into the waters of the Venetian lagoon. And that’s what happens every day to the protagonist of “Freddo dentro”, a cleaning lady of a hotel. A role enriched by the presence of Elisabetta de Vito, able to tell every emotion to the viewer with the strength of the eyes or a grimace on the lips. The woman’s routine touches only that of the hotel guests, who belong to another world, and for whom it is little more than a function, barely worthy of a glance. You tip and continue straight on your way. But what happens if there is something more than a dirty dish or a condom that fits into the vacuum cleaner in the morning cleaning of the rooms? How far can the indifference of this society go? The answer turns on the grotesque and, with a brilliant touch of black humor, forces the viewer to look in the mirror, to recognize the truth: the cold is within us. Yet it would take little to melt the emotional ice, even just the warmth of a hug to a stranger, a look of understanding and empathy. The unsettling – and effective – grotesque tone, says Burli, “is born to allow history to determine a reaction in the viewer”, and in this sense it works very well, precisely because “the short should sound like a cry of alarm, as a warning” to whom yields to the temptation of the comfortable and sometimes inhuman habit.

Baburka has also taken care of the make-up and visual effects that show an ice storm outside the hotel, where the characters of the short film movie. Writed by Valerio Burli together with Alessia Bonfini, “Freddo dentro” uses, as already written, the precious presence of Elisabetta de Vito, recently nominated for the David di Donatello for her splendid interpretation in “Non essere villa” by the late Claudio Caligari.

Fabrique Award 2017 (FESTIVAL WINNER)
Miglior Original Concept Independent Horror Movie Award 2018 (FESTIVAL WINNER)
AMC ShorTS International Film Festival (SPECIAL MENTION FOR THE EDITING) Trieste, Italy 2019)
Corto Nero BEST ITALIAN SHORT (Italy 2019)
David di Donatello – FINALIST (Italy 2019)
ICFF Canada – Italian Contemporary Film Festival (Vancouver Canada 2019)
Galacticat. Mostra de Cinema Fantàstic de Ponent (France 2019)
Social world film festival (Italy 2017)
Optical Theatre Horror Film Festival (Italy 2017)
FiPiLi Horror Film Festival (Italy 2018)
Rome Tre Film Festival (Italy 2018)
ETNA Comics (Italy 2018)
Picentia Short Film Festival (Italy 2018)
TOHorror Film Fest (Italy 2018)
Reale Film Festival (Italy 2018)
Mitreo Film Festival (Italy 2018)
Janara Horror Fest (Italy 2018)
Festival Internacional de Cine Fantástico de Elche – FantaElx (Spain 2018)
Salerno Film Festival (Italy 2018)
Media Wave Festival (Hungary 2019)