1000 NG associations, unions, movements and political parties from all over the world came together into the Genoa Social Forum to protest against the G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy on 19-21 July 2001. BELLA CIAO is the visual reconstruction of the clashes and running street battles that lead to the death of a young protestor called Carlo Giuliani on 20 July, and the forced entry by police into the Diaz School, where the Genoa Social Forum’s Media Center and dormitories were situated on the night of 21-22 July. Most of the footage has never been seen before and was recorded both by our crew, the cameramen of Rai Genoa and various freelance reporters. BELLA CIAO is also a document about the difficult “birth” of an international movement that progressed and evolved from Genoa to Porto Alegre, bringing together ideas and multiple interests albeit with the inevitable contradictions that typify such a complex organisation.
The events of Genoa were a rivendication of the “private eye”- the point of view of independent cameramen, photographers and filmmakers who multiplied the images of the G8 Summit until it became a landmark event in the history of communications. Every minute of the events surrounding the G8 summit was recorded on film or video. Unfortunately the cameras were unable to register what happened in the two prisons to the hundreds of protestors who were held overnight and longer.The film begins with the two most tragic events. BELLA CIAO is the story of the world's biggest no-global protest to date.
The official enquiry into the events surrounding the Genoa G8 Summit closed without explaining what really happened there. The lower house of the Italian parliament did not deliberate the setting up of a special parliamentary commission of enquiry. A small number of police officers were put on suspension or transferred and almost one year after the events, the investigations into the violent acts committed are still underway with no trial date in sight. The investigating magistrates sequestered hundreds of hours of footage.