Giorgio Gori

A patch is something commonly used to cover a hole in a dress. Valerio Lundini is a Roman surrealist comedian, who is called every night to replace a programme that, for various reasons, cannot go on air -- he basically puts "a patch" in a TV schedule. But can he?

Forty years after their beginnings on the frequencies of Radio Popolare, Gialappa’s Band retraces its professional history in a film directed by Walter Veltroni.With his attentive and original perspective, the director takes us through four decades of comedy, invention, and irony, recounting the journey of Giorgio Gherarducci, Marco Santin, and Carlo Taranto, three leading figures who revolutionized the language of entertainment in Italy. L’assurda storia della Gialappa’s Band explores the creative universe of the legendary trio and the mark left by their unique brand of comedy, capable of transcending generations and becoming an integral part of Italian popular culture.

During February of 2020, a tragedy began that struck, as the first Western nation, Italy, and then went on to devastate the rest of world—the Covid-19 pandemic. So many images come to mind at the mere mention of this terrible virus, but one, above all, mercilessly describes those moments, symptomatic of a wound that will indelibly remain sealed in our collective consciousness—the coffins squeezed to capacity into military trucks in Bergamo. The whole area around the city of Bergamo was truly put to the test, there isn’t one family that wasn’t struck by the virus, the sound of ambulance sirens blared more than in any other city and the fear was so tangible that you could see it in the eyes of the inhabitants. However, this story is not about the hospital itself but about the people who promised, working day and night, that this miracle would come to pass. 7 days and, thanks to the Alpini, Bergamo can finally breathe again.

A patch is something commonly used to cover a hole in a dress. Valerio Lundini is a Roman surrealist comedian, who is called every night to replace a programme that, for various reasons, cannot go on air -- he basically puts "a patch" in a TV schedule. But can he?