by Alessandro Pugno
Italia/Spagna/Perù, 2017, 73'
Papaverofilms (AL)
Huayhuay, Peru, 4000 mts above the sea level, a land ravaged by toxic mining waste. Silvia, a teacher and her pupils are providing for the first time scientific proofs of the contamination. Their work has inspired the struggle of a whole community.
I grew up in Casale Monferrato, the so called “Cernobyl” of asbestos and I know very well the suffering caused by contamination. A suffering that has the bitter taste of injustice, omertà and extortion: work or health? This film is an opportunity to feel what the town of Casale lived when Eternit was still on the market and gave job to a lot of people. I believe that I have also the possibility to see the contamination with the eyes of children; to tell the story of the battle between David and Goliath leaded by a simple teacher that is looking for small worms in the rivers with her pupils. A drop of hope in a ravaged sea.