Vanessa McMahon

Next week The Sicilian Girl (2009) by director Marco Amenta starring Veronica D'Agostino and Gerard Jugnot will open in theaters in the U.S. The Sicilian Girl is a based on the true story of Rita Atria, a teenaged girl born into the Cosa Nostra who rebelled against the mafia as a witness in Italian courts to avange her father's death. It is a riveting dramatic thriller that has received international acclaim.

I saw The Sicilian Girl in Palm Springs, California when Amenta screened his film at the PSIFF 2010. I'd had tickets to another film that morning but my friend Marco convinced me to change my plans and see his film. It was a bright sunny day outside so it must've been a compliment to him that so many stayed to watch a film as well as remain for the panel and, indeed, it was more than worth it! 

When asked what inspired him about this film, Marco answered that it's a universal story of a 17-year old girl girl who rebels against the mafia. This could be the story of any person who fights an oppressive system; the system could be the mafia, or could be a dictator in South America or Nazis.

MARCO: "I wanted to tell a universal story that everyone could relate to. I didn't want to tell a realism story just about the actual events but a human one and to have the liberty to do so."

Further, the hero of this story cannot be underestimated as we are talking about the courage of a young girl against an oppressive system of the Cosa Nostra which once betrayed, one rarely survives. And further, this girl was born into the Cosa Nostra and is raised believing this world is good and protects her and is safe when in reality it is a criminal world. She realizes this world is evil when her father is killed by it so she goes to the courts and acts as witness telling the judge everything she has seen. She goes to Rome alone and unprotected and lives in hiding during the court case against the Cosa Nostra and it is evident that it is only a matter of time before she will be hunted down and executed. The thing that makes this story so unique is the unfaltering strength of this young girl to the very end, even when she has had to go against her people and her family and is left in complete isolation from everything she has known. Does the mafia kill her or can she survive the loneliness of a life without family, country and identity?

When asked about why he wanted to make another mafia movie, Marco passionately responded that he wanted to tell a true story about the mafia, not romanticized but real about the people within like Rita Atria who suffer under the oppressive criminal system and the price they pay for being born into it. If rebelled against, one can never escape. That is the real mafia and it still exists. It is very real and important to confront the fact that it is a reality still today in Italy and cannot be ignored.  

Marco was educated in Paris and lived there for eight years. He speaks fluent French and usually his films are French/Italian co-productions. He and his sister Simonetta operate the film production company Eurofilm together.
Their film The Sicilian Girl, La Siciliana Ribelle, opens in these cities next week across the United States:

Written by Vanessa McMahon July 29, 2010.

** Stay tuned for more with Marco Amenta. 

TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE : http://www.filmforum.org/films/sicilian.html

FROM September 10 : LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO, etc.
FROM September 17 : SAN FRANCISCO, SAN DIEGO, BERKELEY, etc.
FROM September 24: PHILADELFIA, SEATTLE, DENVER, etc.

view film trailer here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW7paVA5oTE