STAY BEHIND - SHORT FILM
“Italy, Years of Lead. Antonella is the hidden figure of Stay Behind, a secret operation against the communist threat, founded by NATO and CIA. An infamous side of history connecting mafia and politics until 1993. Based on true events.”
Stay Behind is a film that deals with the misleading of key investigations during the Years of Lead and Strategy of Tension (’70s-‘90s) in Italy. After WWII the political climate was polarised by the Cold War. That’s the reason why the CIA & NATO (alongside MI5) create the Stay Behind Operations - a paramilitary organisation to defend the Iron Curtain. Italy was the country with the biggest Communist Party of Europe. Limiting the influence of communism internally was the real challenge and any mean could have been necessary. In Italy Stay Behind is called Operation Gladio. Its existence was made public for the first time in history by President Giulio Andreotti in 1990.
The premise of Stay Behind is that secret services are still controlling the black-and-white narrative of those years. Still, like in the Years of Lead, the treaty State-Mafia is affected by the same superficial explanation: where Mafiosi have coppola and gun and the prosecutors are the good guys. However the real truth of judges Falcone e Borsellino (both brutally executed) was those investigations weren’t at all just about the mafia. These people were investigating a devious State.
Stay Behind wasn’t only in Italy. It was in all of Europe. The secrets are shared.
Written & Directed by: Federica Schiavello
Starring: Heléna Antonio
With the participation of: Andrei Maniata
Creative Director: Giacomo Ganduglia
Production: WAYE
Producers: Federica Schiavello - Metello Giordani
CAMERA AND LIGHITING DEPT - DOP & Steady Op: Paolo Bischi - Gaffer: Ciaron Craig - 1st AC: Jake Morris - 2nd AC / Best girl: Flavia Scagni
PRODUCTION DEPT - Production Designer: Giorgia Lee Joseph Art Assistant: Francesca Landi Production Management / AD: Marta Montina Assistant Production: Candra Johnson - Beatriz Pereira Costume Designer: Vicky Turner Costume Stand-by: Annushka Rogers HMUA: Chantal Amari Hair Design: The Posticherie - Aaliyah Oke Sound Operator: Rob Wingfield
POST PRODUCTION - Editor: Federica Schiavello Music by: Enrico Mereu Sound Designer: Cristian Crepaldi Colourist: Paolo Bischi CG Artist & VFX Supervisor: Giacomo Ganduglia Compositor & VFX Supervisor: Denise Esposito FX Artist: Mason Hilligenn Compositor: Antonia Palmer Compositor: Safa Alkassab Executive Producers: Federica Schiavello, Giacomo Ganduglia, John Dodds.
Extra special thanks to: Fresh & Fruity London Vlad Jakovlev Shelford Place Studios Linda Dorigo Atta & The Ice Cream Truck