It’s ridiculous to think that in a relatively wealthy continent like Europe, one where until recently living standards had never been higher, that poverty and especially child poverty remains an issue in just about every country. Naples, for instance, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy and yet one of the poorest cities in Europe. With more than a quarter of Napoletani unemployed, crime is high and job prospects fairly bleak.
Growing up in the Spanish quarter is tough, but young Entoni is determined to break away from the cycle of crime and incarceration which has blighted his family. His father is in prison and his mother struggles to cope. The Italian justice system has introduced a policy of taking high-risk children away from families involved in organised crime. His grandmother, Dora, fears for his future. His life is captured in a new documentary, Hide and Seek (Nascondino).
Hide and Seek is a powerful and heatrbreaking film about generational cycles of crime, poverty and violence in southern Italy. Filmed over a four-year period, we gradually witness a change in the cheeky and lively boy. A youthful, almost naïve, dream soon sours, turning into an almost fatalistic journey towards an inevitable demise. In Hide and Seek, Victoria Fiore captures the life and energy of the streets, but also the irreparable damage this self-fulfilling prophecy is doing to families.
Hide and Seek screened at CPH:DOX.
