BASSIL’ORA

International Narrative

Director: Rebecca Basso

Length: 84 minutes

Giuseppe Bassi, a vivacious 100 years old man, tells his story about war and being held prisoner in Russia during Second World War.
From 1942 to 1946 Giuseppe was a prisoner in several different camps: Tambow, Oranki and Suzdal. He got to know many people, heard lot of stories and came across a truly unique piece of reportage.
The narrator and second character of the story is the actress Karina Arutyunyan who act the part of a Russian woman that lives in Italy from years, whose grandfather fight on the Russian side during Second World War.
The two characters in this story are emotionally very close; however, they are diametrically opposed. While Giuseppe and his story are both real, Katerina is a fictional character; that is how fiction and reality are closely intertwined along the story. Giuseppe is an old man who fought the Second World War on the Soviet front, while Katerina is a woman who had little to do with the war, who lived a completely different life, but who comes from the very country where Giuseppe endured so much suffering.