Barefoot Valley
LOGLINE
2016. In Val Grande, Italy’s largest wilderness area, a bivouac goes up in flames. Only a Gopro cam is saved. The footage stored in the camera was shot by the man who had been living in that valley for sixteen years, without rules and masters: Gianfry, the barefoot hermit.
Synopsis:
On June 15, 2015, Gianfranco Bonaldo, known as Gianfry died of strychnine poisoning. The causes are still unclear, although it appears to be just a tragic mistake. Sixteen months after his death, the bivouac where he used to live burns down, all his belongings are destroyed. Only a gopro cam, lent to him by a group of friends to document his life in the wild, unfiltered, is saved. Starting with this precious material, the documentary aims to reconstruct his life from a harsh and difficult childhood to his days as a hermit in Val Grande, where Gianfry had been liveing for more than 16 years, finding his redemption and peace.
Director: Carlo Prevosti, Alberto Maroni Biroldi
Country: Italy
Expected running: 80′
Screenplay: Carlo Prevosti
Editing: TBD
Cinematography: Gianfranco Bonaldo, Carlo Prevosti
Production: Effendem Film in association with Insolito Cinema
Producer: Federico Minetti
Estimated budget: 150.000,00 €
Financing in place: 50.000,00 €
Gap financing: 100.000,00 €
Looking for: co-production, distribution, pre-purchases, commission
Shooting: march 2023
End of shooting: july 2023
Director’s statement:
Making a film about Gianfranco Bonaldo, means not only telling the story of an eccentric life, but also facing some of the fundamental questions of everyone’s life. Gianfry, as he was known, against all expectations, was able to react to the violence he suffered in his youth, building himself a complete different life. The film wants to turn his personal story into a universal message about how a second chance is granted to those who have the courage to go looking for it even in the wildest.
BIOGRAPHY
Alberto Maroni Biroldi is a jazz drummer, percussionist and audio technician. In 2008 he met Gianfranco Bonaldo and decide to tell his story through a documentary. Carlo Prevosti is a videomaker and documentary filmmaker, he made his debut in 2010 with “With Wheels on the Ground” and “Feel My my step on the road.” In 2012 he completed his third documentary “Movement for 21 Pianos,”. Several films followed, including “The Last Oopstar,” which won the Italian Competition prize at the 58th Festival dei Popoli in Florence.
PRODUCTION Effendem Film in association with Insolito Cinema | PRODUCER Federico Minetti| CONTACTS Minefe@gmail.com, +39 3496363543