Ferrone Federico

The Train to Moscow
In the aftermath of Stalin’s death, three Italian communists engage in a trip to the Soviet Union to challenge their utopia with an 8mm camera. In 1957, Sauro, Luigi and Enzo all live in Alfonsine, a small town in Italy ruled like a miniature Soviet Union by the Italian Communist Party. As many communists in the West, they dream of the Soviet Union, and hope for the great Revolution. But with the wind of reform and self-criticism blowing through the Eastern Bloc after the death of Stalin the image of the Soviet Union as the workers’ paradise begins to crumble. They therefore decide to travel to the USSR to find out what is true and what is false in this supposed land of milk and honey. They film their entire journey with their 8mm camera. Through this invaluable personal archive, our film tells the hopes, disappointments and challenges of three young men faced with the reality of what seemed to be a utopia come true.

FEDERICO FERRONE (1981) and MICHELE MANZOLINI (1980) – co-directors. After studying together at the University of Bologna (Italy), Federico Ferrone studied at the Institut d'études politiques of Paris (France), and Michele Manzolini studied at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). They went on to co-direct the award winning documentary MERICA (2007), which dealt with the theme of immigration between Brazil and Italy, and was selected for over 20 film festivals. In 2009 they codirected THE ENEMY WITHIN (2009), about the Muslim community in Italy, broadcast by Al Jazeera Documentary, Al Jazeera English and selected for various film festivals. In 2009 they founded Vezfilm with F. Ragazzi and M. Szymkow. Their interest in how individuals become involved in large scale political phenomena and their way of recounting the emotions of the characters will put to use in a film which follows the complicated and sometimes painful paths which life can take.