Xolo (first feature)

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official site

Trailer

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Xolo

Xolo

original title:

Xolo

directed by:

cinematography:

Raffaello Di Leo

editing:

Fabrizio Rinaldi

music:

Calico Rec., Saulius Petreikis, Gianni Trotta, Ali Latif

producer:

Giuseppe Valentino, Alessia Lenoci

production:

country:

Italy

year:

2017

film run:

78'

format:

colour

festivals & awards:

  • Villerupt Italian Film Festival 2017: Compétition
  • Black Star Film Festival 2017: Official Selection
  • Santiago del Estero Film Festival 2017
  • WIIF Film Award 2017

Southern Italy. Rosa is a woman with a troubled past who lives in a trailer in the countryside. All her life, all of what she owns is because of the rich Gino. The man is the owner of a vast plot of land and a gas station where Rosa works.
Nathaniel is a man employed by Gino, he comes from France and survives on odd jobs around Italy. When he meets Rosa, between the two a deep and true bond creates and for Rosa the French man could be the ticket to freedom.
The two decide to escape after robbing Gino of Xolo, a fighting dog that is worth a lot of money, believed to be a man killer.

DIRECTOR’S NOTES:
Xolo come out of the urgency to tell a story that happened to a woman very close to me.
I wrote her story while she was jailed for murder. I wanted to produce Xolo very fast, keeping that urgency and I went around looking for the money to produce it.
I wanted to talk about the concept of freedom and independence, a topic really dear to me especially if we talk about a woman in southern Italy, destitute and alone with a shady past like Rosa is.
The Rosa of Rosa is like a modern western (the search for space and freedom and a better future), but at the same time is a thriller and unfolds on the road, so the genre is blurred and I hope interesting, I tried to subvert a bit the genres.
The production of the film has been long with the actual shooting extremely fast. One month in total with gaps of years in between, Xolo is a truly independent film with so backing from any production company except Ferula Film, our company.
I think that Xolo doesn`t look like the typical Italian film, although possesses unmistakably Italian features.