“San Patrignano is completely dissociated from the docu-series broadcast by Netflix”. So the community comments SanPa: Lights and Darkness of San Patrignano, original Italian Netflix docu-series available for a few days, defined as “unilateral”. “The story that emerges – explains in a note the community founded in 1978 by Vincenzo Muccioli, destined to become the largest rehabilitation center for drug addicts in Europe – is summary and partial, with a narrative that focuses mainly on the testimonies of detractors moreover, someone with a background of a judicial type in civil and criminal cases which ended with sentences in favor of the Community itself, without clearly highlighting the nature of these sources to the viewer ».
“Documentary reconstruction is missing”
For transparency and fairness – explains the Community – «we hosted the director of the series for several days, who was free to speak to anyone within the community, and we also provided the list of a wide range of people who they have lived and or still live in San Patrignano and of which they know well past and present history, in order to be able to give them the necessary tools for an objective and informed reconstruction ». This list was “totally rejected”, with the exception of our therapeutic manager Antonio Boschini. «We had expressed from the beginning the concern for the effects that a television product of reconstruction of the events passed within the Community, if not reconstructed and presented in a balanced and contextualized way, it could have had on today’s reality, with its over a thousand guests. Unfortunately, we deny that the fears were absolutely justified “, underlining how the story was” spectacularized and simplified “for the construction of a product” clearly built for commercial entertainment purposes, rather than serious documentary reconstruction ».
Gabardini’s reply: “A story that concerns collective memory”
The docu-series was created with twenty-five testimonies, 180 hours of interviews and with images taken from 51 different archives. The testimonies, which alternate with archive material, retrace the events that have characterized the history of the community and its founder. Directed by Cosima Spender (Palio, Best Editing Award at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival). The work is a Production 42, with executive producers Gianluca Neri, Nicola Allieta, Andrea Romeo and Christine Reinhold. The series was written by Carlo Gabardini, Gianluca Neri and Paolo Bernardelli. And Garardini himself, interviewed by Corriere della Sera, he replied to the criticisms: “I am saddened by the judgment given by the community of San Patrignano, but I certainly would not have expected there were no objections. Our aim was not to make a “commercial” of the Community, which could then use it for commercial purposes, or to take a cue only from the trial papers. Our idea was, in fact, to make a documentary product ». What we wanted to propose – he continues – «is a bigger story. A story that needed to be told, and it was right to report also to those who were protagonists. A story that told Italy in 1978 and Italy today. From the theme of drugs to the role of the strong man“. Many people – he concludes – «despite having contacted them they did not want to be interviewed, as a sign at the end of the documentary recalls. San Patrignano represented and still represents an important page of our collective memory ». “You cannot be neutral if you have lived in a story like this, and we wanted to tell everything without being fascinated”.
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January 1, 2021 (change January 1, 2021 | 16:28)
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