An excellent documentary chronicling the life and work of Letizia Battaglia, the Sicilian photojournalist who, since 1974, has documented the terrible impact on her island of mafia violence. A gutsy activist, committed feminist, and great photographer, Battaglia -- the name, aptly enough, means "battle" -- is a fascinating film subject, and the documentary is a fitting tribute to her. She made her name with the photographs of mafia crimes she made for the Sicilian daily L'Ora, pictures that shocked a nation and the world, and which helped spur Palermo's anti-mafia movement.The documentary focuses mainly on her work as a photojournalist and her political activism (she represented the Green Party on the Palermo city council)but also covers her personal life, including her long-running affair with an Italian journalist much younger than she.
2 Reviews
Battaglia
ville-525 February 2006
The documentary portrays Letizia Battaglia, a chain-smoking woman from Palermo who has been a professional photographer most of her life. She has specialized to photographing mafia victims and mafioso's but she also photographs girls "because of the little girl inside her". To photograph countless grotesque sights of murdered people you need something to balance that - "shooting" innocent girls couldn't be further from that. (sorry for the bad pun!)
She has also been active to her hometown politics where corruption has always been high. (then again whole Italy isn't a known for being corruption-free country) She pats her own back for managing to introduce a local law for preservation and restoration of century-old buildings and churches in the city when they were going to be demolished. And I agree with her: I'm not a church-goer but judging from the photography I envy the citizens of Palermo for having those picturesque and grand buildings. We really have nothing like that where I come from.
To the poster of the earlier comment: the lady is 70 but she still photographs and her mind is still fully working. The documentary wasn't that touching nor did I find any intentions for such film-making. It only gave insight how she has dedicated her life for something important in the society and how she has left her mark on the world.
She has also been active to her hometown politics where corruption has always been high. (then again whole Italy isn't a known for being corruption-free country) She pats her own back for managing to introduce a local law for preservation and restoration of century-old buildings and churches in the city when they were going to be demolished. And I agree with her: I'm not a church-goer but judging from the photography I envy the citizens of Palermo for having those picturesque and grand buildings. We really have nothing like that where I come from.
To the poster of the earlier comment: the lady is 70 but she still photographs and her mind is still fully working. The documentary wasn't that touching nor did I find any intentions for such film-making. It only gave insight how she has dedicated her life for something important in the society and how she has left her mark on the world.
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