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Caretta Caretta

They dive to save the Caretta Caretta – and rise to defy the patriarchy.

synopsis

On Filicudi, a volcanic island in the Aeolian archipelago, a marine biologist, together with a team of female assistants, has founded an emergency centre for marine animals, specialising in Caretta Caretta turtles, which once nested throughout the archipelago. Their presence is resented by local fishermen, who cannot accept having lost their traditional claim to the sea and the taste of turtle meat. In their journeys to protect the ocean, both above and below the surface, the women experience the pull of sea and air currents, come into contact with the island’s ancestral beliefs – collected by an anthropologist – and become the protagonists of a metamorphosis that is both real and imagined. The turtle rescue leads to an extraordinary outcome, revealed in its full magnificence only through satellite technology.

Director’statement

The term “mermaid tears” refers to the microplastics afflicting our seas and oceans. These “tears” were the starting point for the research I intend to pursue in my project. About two years ago, I read a scientific article discussing microplastics found in the human placenta. (Today, articles report their presence in every organ of our bodies.) The image of the placenta – a symbol of life – contaminated by microplastics deeply disturbed me: in the very place where life should begin, toxic substances from human pollution are already present. My artistic research has always focused on the mutations of the body – human, animal, or natural – caused by the Anthropocene. Besides the mermaid tears, another protagonist of the project is a non-human, animal body: the Caretta Caretta turtle. This marine turtle species, found in the Mediterranean Sea, is endangered and one of the main victims of microplastics. I have always been fascinated by turtles and consider them a symbol of resilience.

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