Interdit aux chiens et aux Italiens

In the Piedmontese mountain village called Ughettera, the “land of the Ughetto”, all the inhabitants have the same surname: Ughetto. Priests are still regarded as rulers and widows are witches here. Life for the people is bleak and arduous – their empty stomachs are always rumbling, and the winters are dreadfully harsh. Luigi Ughetto leaves his home village together with his two brothers to discover “La Merica”, the land where dollars grow on trees. But fate has other plans for the brothers: their journey is determined by the construction of the world’s longest tunnel, world political events, love, only rarely happiness and more often suffering. And so their search for the American dream ultimately leads the Ughettos, after many detours, to the French Provence.

The stop-motion film by French director and documentary filmmaker Alain Ughetto pays homage to hundreds of thousands of Italian emigrants who left their homeland in the hope of finding a better future. At the same time, he tells his own family story: “Luigi was my grandfather. He fought in two world wars, against hunger and for his family.” His grandfather’s story is an emotional, raw one, but also very loving and humorous. “I tell his story with my hands – he was also skilled with his hands, I think he passed that on to me,” notes the director.

“Interdit aux chiens et aux Italiens” was nominated for the Cristal at this year’s Annecy Festival and was honoured with the Jury Award and the Gan Foundation Award. Alain Ughetto has already garnered numerous nominations and awards for his animated films, including a César for “La boule” (1984). (Louise Østergaard)