IL CERCHIO

Sceneggiatura / Screenplay: Sophie Chiarello. Fotografia / Photography: Sophie Chiarello. Montaggio / Editing: Andrea Campajola. Musica / Music: Gabriele Panico. Suono / Sound: Federico Cabula, Matteo Eusepi. Produzione / Produced by: Indigo Film, Rai Cinema. In collaborazione con / In collaboration with: Sky Documentaries. Distribuzione per l’Italia / Distributed in Italy by: Indigo Film.

Who are today’s children? What do they think and what do they manage to grasp of the adult world? To answer these questions, the director decides to follow the pupils of a primary class in a school immersed in a multi-ethnic neighborhood. For five years with her camera, she lowers her gaze to child height to capture their point of view of the world. The film premiered in 2022 at “Alice nelle città” Rome Film Fest section.

“… Throughout the five years of filming, the film recounts an experience of life that at times can resemble a utopia. The class that was filmed becomes a portrait of a country that evolves and whose identity is changed and transformed. As for me, the children’s journey intertwines with my own: making this film was also a way for me to dive back into my experience as the daughter of Italian immigrants in France. Through the children of the Circle, I grew up, in the traces of their gaze I found my own, and in the noisy clamour of the school I found my voice, and I perhaps also came to understand what kind of adult I would like to be.” (S. Chiarello)

Sophie Chiarello
Sophie Chiarello is an Italian-French director. She grew up in France, where she graduated at the FEMIS School of cinema in Paris. She started her career as a first assistant director. She wrote and directed three short-films, all presented and awarded by prestigious film festivals. In 2011 she wrote and directed her first documentary film: Ritals, domani me ne vado. The Circle is her second feature documentary film.

filmografia scelta / selected filmography
2001 Ficarigna cm / sf 2006 Un filo intorno al mondo  cm / sf 2011 Ritals, domani me ne vado doc. (diretto con / directed with Anna-Lisa Chiarello); Premi / Awards: Festival del Cinema Italiano di Annecy – Premio Speciale della Giuria / Annecy Italian Film Festival – Special Jury Prize 2012 Ci vuole un gran fisico 2022 Il cerchio (The Circle) doc.