Anna
Alberto Grifi, Massimo Sarchielli, Italy 1972-1975, 225'
This startling masterpiece of vérité documentary filmmaking reveals the story of Anna, a pregnant 16-year-old junkie. Anna’s situation is discussed by groups of pontificators, layabouts, street philosophers and bums who digress to other subjects, painting a bleak, angry and confused portrait of the social climate in Western Europe during the early 1970s. The film, which features a cameo by Jane Fonda, is marked by an early use of video, which had only just come on to the Italian market. The camera’s unflinching presence produces an uncanny immediacy and transforms Anna into a complex, powerful and unforgettable screen persona.
The film was recently restored by CSC-Cineteca Nazionale and Cineteca di Bologna.