Il Tempo Sospeso

15th October 2011, Rome, in front of the Basilica of San Giovanni, police try to disperse an enraged crowd. Tear gas, water cannons and armored vehicles are not enough.

Rome is the scene of urban guerrilla warfare.

My brother Giacomo is there.

From above a helicopter films a group of protesters attacking a police van. One individual throws a pole at the driver. Moments later the vehicle is set on fire. Those images spread worldwide and become a symbol of defeated authority.

A few months later, the individual with the pole is arrested: it is my brother. The final sentence is handed down after eleven years of waiting for the end of the trial. In 2022 I accompany him to turn himself in at the prison. The emotional and temporal distance from the events makes everything feel surreal. Il Tempo Sospeso attempts to give meaning to this long wait in order to close a chapter and start a new life far from that fateful day.