Lord Of The Ants

SYNOPSIS

Based on Italy’s late 60s true events, Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti is prosecuted and sentenced to prison for the love he shares with his barely of age pupil and friend, Ettore. Amidst a chorus of voices of accusers, supporters and a largely hypocritical public, a single committed journalist takes on the task of piecing together the truth, between secrecy and desire, facing suspicion and censorship in the process.

DIRECTOR’S

FILMOGRAPHY

2022 Lord of the Ants

2020 Hammamet

2017 Tenerezza - Holding Hands

2014 Happy To Be Different

2013 Intrepido: A Lonely Hero

2011 First Man

2006 The Missing Star

2004 The Keys to the House

1998 The Way We Laughed

1994 Lamerica

1992 Stolen Children

1990 Open Doors

1988 The Boys on Panisperna Street

1982 Blow to the Heart

DIRECTOR’S

BIOGRAPHY

Gianni Amelio. Born in Calabria, Italy. After studying philosophy, he moved to Rome, where he began working as an assistant director. He made his film directing debut in 1982, after a long career in television. He is the winner of numerous international awards, including three EFA awards for best European film.

DIRECTOR’S
STATEMENT

“A film about violence and the obtuseness of prejudice. About love subjected to conformism and hypocrisy. A cross-section of Italian provincial life in the pivotal sixties, when economic wellbeing did not grow at the same pace as awareness about things. As emotional openness. The family is a closed space where intergenerational disagreements remain heated and conflictual. The affair as it had happened still reveals disturbing elements over half a century later. The viewer might wonder, “How was it possible, how could it have happened?” Even though today, outwardly, nothing seems to scandalize anyone anymore, the Lord of the Ants’ odyssey has something of the Inquisition about it. We still witness it every day. Because, in substance, not much has changed. Behind a permissive façade, prejudices exist and endure, generating hatred and scorn towards anyone who is “different”. This is no longer the time to submit to or to tolerate any form of abuse towards individuals who are less protected. This film aims to instil the courage to rebel."

- Gianni Amelio