"THE WAY SOUTH" "I leave my home In whatpeople call a moderate climate." "The sulklng wolffrom the North watches me go." "My sons are growing up." "I am a man, It seems... journeylng In my mind when I'm standing still." "Marklng time when I'm moving." "I go from face to face." "In the slush of overproduction, disdain... madness and proflt-maklng." "I know that even those who want to die... would rather live." "I believe... that everybody would like to eat." "30 Aprll, Amsterdã." "The squat on Klnker street corner." "At first we filmed In black and white, llI at ease, nervous." "Tense about what was going to happen." "No accommodation, no coronation!" "There are going to be bands soon and theatre groups." "There's going to be beer and a stage." "Everything." "Alcohol and all you need for a party." "You're there, the house is there." "Form a chain." "Down with the riot squad!" "Dlsperse or else we'll be forced to use violence." "Get out ofour way." "Llne up again." "There's reinforcement for the side streets." "There was also a coronation that day." "The elite puts the people's feathers In their caps." "Ifonly that could stop." "The squatters still need all sorts of things." "Mattresses, blankets, camp beds, furniture... radios... toilet paper, cutlery, plates, mugs..." "If you have any of those, please bring them to us... so that we can use them." "Thanks a lot." "The city council is going to say that they're not the owners." "That the squatters must contact the owner... and if he isn't planning... to evict them straight away... they should try to get him to sell it to them for a reasonable price." "That's the first thing." "Secondly... we must come up with a plan... or at least cooperate in developing a plan... for redevelopment." "Then there's the reconstruction itself." "I think it's fine to try that... but we should now be doing our own restructuring." "The architect only calculated the cost of the materials." "He expected us to do the work ourselves." "We must get in touch with people who have done this before." "I helped friends with the conversion for another group." "We should get them involved as soon as possible to help." "But we must also apply political pressure... perhaps through friends we have in local politics... to find out what the owner plans to do." "I'd like to round this point off." "You've all got things to do." "The legal help we get is free." "At number 53 they need metal bedsprings... to use for barricading." "Bring anything you can find." "Beams of up to two metres long." "What do those metal bars look like?" "With a 90-degree angle... and holes to fasten them to the walls." "I was wondering how we could get very thick wire mesh... like they use on the windows of the riot squad vans." "We could rip it off and use it in front of our own windows." "Screw it down on the inside." "The grid is too fine to put your hand through and unscrew it on the inside." "The barricades must be really strong." "It's so easy to knock in the window." "Are there two volunteers to do it before dinner?" "I'll do it." "You promised you were going to cook." " Ah, yes, that's right." "You?" "Can you two do it together?" "Then there's the list to be on patrol." "Hands up for patrolling tomorrow." "One, two... three, four... six." "Seven." " At the door, from nine onwards." "I'll do tonight." " Tonight as well for you?" "All night?" " If there's no other volunteer." "No, no, no." "He's still new to it." "Put him on the list for three hours." "Twelve to three?" "Have you got a job?" " No." "Ah, you can lie in." "In that case you can be on patrol all night." "How long would you like to do?" " Midnight till six." "Got it." "LONG LIVE 1st MAY" "FOR PEACE AND SECURITY" "Down with the riot squad!" "4 May." "Remembrance Day for the World War II dead." "I joined for very personal reasons." "Not as a result of a histórical analysis." "It's more because... your housing situation is terrible and you see the same all around you." "It's the same for lots of people." "And by talking to people or by reading about it... or because you get to know people in a squat... you take the step... to be active in a movement that works for a lot of people." "It's at the same time the solution of your own housing problem." "If the city policies are so sluggish... that we have to wait forever, we take the initiative ourselves." "But then you've got your first problem... with democracy, because you bypass the system that there is." "But the existing system for the distribution of housing... is inadequate." "You can either wait an eternity, quietly... until you can live normally... or join a group, a large group of people who are prepared... to take things into their own hands." "If there was enough housing there'd be no squatters." "But the authorities aren't addressing the problem... so we're forced to." "The authorities have lost the power to do anything about it." "Or that's what they keep saying." "We think that they can do something." "There's so much vacant office space." "These buildings aren't used while so many people could live there." "Exactly." "But the authorities pretend to be powerless... while they grant one planning permit after another for offices." "It's the opposite of powerlessness." "It's a choice against people needing accommodation." "That's the only way to look at it." "They had promised there would be temporary apartments here." "And in some mysterious way... a year later there's an office block." "Where we're sitting now?" " Where we are now." "But you feel you are taking action on behalf of other people, too?" "For ordinary people." " We are ordinary people." "Well, you could be described as a group of students." "I think it's ridiculous that they try to label us." "It's not right." "There are all sorts of people here." "All young, though." "But most of them are working young people, I think." "This is a very mixed bunch." "But I think it will happen, or it already does, that squats arise... for people in a different position... for whom it's a difficult step." "You see that in the women who are now in refuge homes." "They don't feel capable of organising a squat themselves... so they join an existing group and squat along." "You see that happening for families, for foreign immigrants... and that's a good thing." "You deliberately go for a commune set-up." "What does that imply?" "That you deliberately opt for living with a group of other people... and do lots of things communally." "And why is that?" " Why we choose to live like that?" "I think that, so far, we've been very individualistic in our lives... which was also encouraged by society: having to have a career." "And then you discover there are other ways of living... than in a family home with a fence and a garden." "That it's also possible to live together with lots of people." "Loneliness if often the reason why people live together or get married." "And then you notice that when you split up... you get thrown back on your own resources... but it's a big step to take." "One reason why I wanted to live in a group was... that I could share my fear with others... and wouldn't be emotionally dependent on one person." "And so that one other person isn't emotionally dependent on me." "But I do like having other people around me to share things with." "I'd just like to get back to the subject of violence." "The squatters' movement has decided to hit back." "You're not going to be beaten out of here." "It wasn't so much a decision of the movement as a whole... as the fact that you don't just accept a beating." "The only way you can... fulfil your justified wishes... is to make sure you don't get beaten up." "That's why people now say that squatters are getting more militant." "As if squatters are all armed with helmets and iron bars, etcetera." "But it's only our reaction to the threat... of being attacked by the police or by a gang of hired thugs... and thrown out into the street." "That's why we're barricaded." "The only way to feel safe here... is by turning it into a kind of fort for yourself and the outside world." "I think it's so awful... when you try to do something peacefully, you meet with violence." "It's such a disappointment." "I now think:" "We were such idealists and so stupid." "Are you bitter about it?" " I am, really." "I'm afraid of what's going to happen in future." "If you keep seeing uniforms everywhere... you feel you could be arrested any moment." "We're heading for a police state." "I can imagine that if there's a threat of war... it must be the same feeling." "The constant threat, and the continual fear." "You feel threatened?" " Terribly." "You, too?" "Certainly, yes." " Yes." "How does that express itself?" "It's a permanent feeling." "It takes over your whole day, your whole week." "The constant possibility of hired thugs arriving." "And the interpretation in the press that we provoked them." "It's a round-the-clock thing." "I even lie worrying at night, too." "Do you sleep well?" " Usually I do." "I'm so tired." "Tired enough to sleep well." "5 May." "The celebrations ofthe '45 liberation." "Amsterdã." "A street, a square further down..." "A hundred Moroccans." "Flrst they were welcomed as our cleaners, our Illegal workers." "Now they are undeslrables who have lived In a church for months." "Today they are packing." "They will be spread across the country." "Some will be arrested and sent back home." "The boss never paid social contributions for us." "We never got officially laid off, so we get no benefits." "The Dutch government says:" "You must have worked here for two or three years." "I've worked here for three years." "There are men who've worked here for seven years, or eight." "You have to have worked with the same employer for 22 months." "But who stays that long with one and the same employer?" "You don't even get to stay that long with your wife." "You marry and then you have to go abroad." "And you see your wife one month a year." "Why stay with one employer for 22 months?" "You were angry when we wanted to film?" "I was." "I had slept badly." "The bed wasn't made and I was very tired." "I told myself:" "This is no way to live." "I was thinking of my children and of my wasted life." "And right at that moment a journalist wants to film me!" "I won't have it." "I didn't want to be filmed in that state of mind." "I couldn't accept that I was discovered in the state I was in." "That was all." "Sprlng has been declared In Parls." "The 'Goutte d'Or', the Golden Drop..." "Is one or the oldest Immlgrant areas In Europe." "Four or five generations ofAfrlcans have lived here." "Dlctatlon, part 2." "Good day." "Do you have In front ofyou:" "your exercise book, yourpen... and your assignment paper?" "Yes?" "Then we're going to do the second dictation." "We shall apply what we have learnt In the first two lessons." "Down to work!" "Here Is your dictation." "Tltle:" "the policemen and the bandits." "The policemen... were taking... a rest." "Full stop." "But suddenly... the telephone... alerted them." "Colon." "People were attacking... a neighbouring agency." "Exclamatlon mark." "It Is Impossible... to count... the attacks." "Full stop." "I've been doing a dictation." "A dictation that I have to send in for correction... to the school." "I send it in an envelope." "Then it's corrected and the teacher sends it back to me." "Why are you doing a course like this?" "Because I want to learn to type-write." "For myself, or to get a job in a trading company... or in the civil service." "I do this to learn to type." "Because you want to make it your career?" "It's not just that." "I have no qualifications and I get bored not working." "You don't work?" " I don't." "Why not?" " Because I'm disabled." "How did that happen?" "I had an accident." "A motorbike accident." "How did that happen?" "At five in the morning at my work." "We work in shifts." "There are three eight-hour shifts." "As one shift came off, I drove into the factory... and there was a collision." "I lost consciousness." "What kind of work was it?" "I worked for Simca-Chrysler in Poissy." "And since then?" " Since then I worked on and off... but never for long." "A week or two." "I can't manage any longer." "How do your attacks come about?" "I have this handicap... and that brings on an attack." "Then I am like that for 2 or 3 days." "It's difficult, and dangerous." "That's why I take these medicines... to stop the attacks." "I always have one of these in my pocket." "I put it in my pocket, then I go out." "Just drinking a beer... brings on an attack." "Immediately." "But when I take this... it stops." "That's why..." "Wait." "I don't have many left." "This is for the cough." "I take tranquillizers." "I have this for the metro... my green card." "My green card for free travel." "And I have my invalid card, to show to the police." "When the police stop me, I show them my invalid card... and they let me through." "I have written letters mostly to the health services... twice to the Ministry of Health." "Your case is being dealt with, they said." "Do you think it's right that you get less than a Frenchman?" "No, it doesn't make sense." "If a Frenchman gets a disability pension... he also gets money from the solidarity fund." "He gets money from the disability fund... and he gets the compensatory benefit." "Then he has to go to a school... to learn to type or play the guitar or whatever... to have a trade." "And he's well paid." "Is that your typewriter?" " No, it belongs to the school." "I have lessons from them." "Blind, like this." "I have to type here." "The third, first and second rows." "And the fingers always here." "This is how I recognise it." "Q, S, D, F..." "J, K, L, M." "That's touch typing, isn't it?" "Who is that?" " That's my daughter." "I look at her every morning and evening... because she is a long way away." "Were all your children born here?" " Yes, in this house." "How long have you been in France?" " Here?" "Forty-five years." "I've been here forty-seven years." "And have you worked all that time in the building industry?" "Yes." "As a labourer." "When did you stop working?" "I haven't worked for the last three years." "Do you get unemployment benefit?" " Unemployed?" "I am ill." "You get 1500 francs a month." "Who from?" "From the social security." "So you have to live economically." " We live according to our means." "Do I have to earn my living as a male whore?" "We live from what God gives us." "We put a good face on things." "How many children do you have?" "I have had six children." "Three boys and three girls." "I lost two girls and a boy." "Did they die here in France?" "I lost one girl when she was eight." "The boy died here in France." "He died at birth." "My oldest son is 36 and married." "And you stay at home?" " Always." "Don't you go shopping?" " Yes, I do the shopping." "Then I come home." "Have you worked in France?" "I worked for the railways for three years." "Then I became ill." "My daughter had died." "I got heart trouble and had to stop working." "What did you do for the railways?" " Cleaning." "There is something wrong with your hands." "From working." "It cost me my hands." "But I didn't report it." "I didn't know how to." "Did you only work in building?" " Yes, only in building." "Show us your hands." "Look." "I have had several operations." "I spent four months in hospital." "The internist wanted me to get unemployment benefit... but the insurance doctor wanted me to have... another operation." "I didn't know what to do." "Now I have lost everything." "The early train." "Ali travels to workjust once more." "On the footbridge to the car factory... we are stopped by the works police." "Ali Is afraid." "I am a man, It seems... journeylng In my head when I'm standing still... and marking time when I'm moving." "Thejourney goes on, but first..." "In June, In Amsterdã... we witness the violent eviction ofsquatters." "The Klnker Street squatters negotiate with the city council..." "In order to turn empty space Into space for living." "A new woman hasjolned the group." "There was no chance of a house for me." "I thought that in a refuge home they would help me." "Why a women's refuge home?" "To have somewhere to stay." " Why there of all places?" "I didn't know anywhere else." "But then..." " You couldn't stay at home?" "No." "I couldn't stay where I was living." "I couldn't go back to my husband." " Why not?" "We were always at odds." "Too violently at odds." "Then one of the people here asked the others if it was all right... for me to stay here." "What is it like to live with squatters?" "I've learnt more than I can say." "I never knew what was behind it all." "I always only heard the negative stories... and now I've experienced lots of positive things." "Such as?" "There's been a housing shortage since the war." "We've always been brought up to be well-behaved and polite." "We lived with our parents." "Our children did the same." "Now they live way out of town because there's nothing in Amsterdã." "But these present-day youngsters... they oppose all that." "They don't just accept it." "And I admire them and I wish I was a lot younger." "In my marriage I was pushed into a rut in the way we lived." "When I left I got into another rut in the way I had to live." "Now I can do as I like and say what I like." "You'd never have believed it just by looking at it from the outside." "But because I live here I know what it's like." "It's quite an experience!" "DOWN WITH VIOLENCE" "To prove that the squatters don't want to use violence... they have removed all throwable objects from the roof." "We cannot leave the premises." "If the owner is dispossessed, eviction is unnecessary." "Amsterdã, 19 August, 11." "AM." "The eviction from the premises was not discussed by the Mayor." "And the squatters reacted with the gesture ofclearlng the roof." "Anythlng that could be used to throw down was removed." "We are expecting a statement from the Councll of Churches..." "What's better than a calorle-free kiss?" "Thls Is the two o'clock news." "Sr. Polak, Mayor ofAmsterdam, Is not planning other evictions... than the apartments on Prlns Hendrlkkade." "Sympathlsers have broken up the paving... and made piles of the tiles." "Otherwlse the situation Is quiet." "Jurrlaan, can I have the mike?" "Look, motorcycle police." "Look at them." " This is it." "This is really it." "We have to say this, guys." "This mustn't happen." "Some people have jumped into the water." "Are they commando units?" " Yes, in the van." "The man at the top of the crane..." "Look, commandos with guns." " Where?" "Here, in the skip that's going up right in front of you." "They've got machine guns." "They're getting on to the roof with machine guns." "They're carbines." "Still no statement, Moos?" " No." "They're going to use tear gas." "They've got masks." "Look at that skip." "Ready for action, with guns." "They're going to summon us soon." "When they do, I'll open the window." "Yes, now." "It will be answered with violence..." "Riot squad, can you hear me?" "Riot squad, can you hear me?" "We reply in the shape of a statement to the press." "A gigantic unit of the riot squad has congregated... so large it is incredible to see." "We're not going to be provoked... by this display of power." "We have decided... not to seek a confrontation with the police force." "We will keep the struggle in our own hands." "The squats in luxury apartments have led to a public discussion... about these empty apartments that are built all over the inner city." "Again: at least 1100 luxury apartments are left uninhabited." "Now you want to clear them... but the squatters have left long ago." "The squatters have left the premises a few hours ago." "But those who are looking for housing can forget about this location... for new squatters will arrive." "We will carry on!" "CARRY ON" "The road to the south continues." "Amsterdã." "Parls." "Lyons." "And Into the mountains." "The Pollsh strikers are In a difficult situation." "The government has accused them of undermining socialism." "What are you doing?" " I am distilling lavender." "How is the lavender trade?" "Not so good." "Why is that?" " Because of the price." "It's hard to sell." "I heard that production costs had risen." "Yes... nowadays it costs more." "And the retail price?" " The retail price... that can't rise." "Is that true of all crops?" "Nearly all of them." "What are you going to do?" "We're not young any more, are we?" "Will you stay here?" "Yes, we'll stay here until we retire." "And then... that's it." "And the rest of the people here?" "The same applies for just about everyone here." "I have always lived here." "On this farm?" " Yes." "Did you spend your youth here?" " I was born here, yes." "What did it use to be like here?" "People were used to making do with less." "They made do with less?" "Costs were lower, so we needed less money." "But did people have a good life?" "You can't compare it." "Life was very different." "But was life better then than it is now?" "Or is life better now?" "I suppose it is better now." "Did life use to be too hard?" " Yes, it was indeed." "It is better now, but people have to leave their land." "Yes, because... we cannot keep up to date technically." "We don't have any machines to work on the slopes." "Don't they exist?" " Maybe they will one day!" "But there are tractors which can work slopes, aren't there?" "Yes, but they are too expensive for this sort of small farm." "The essence is lighter... it floats on the surface." "Is it a good product?" " Well... it used to be a good product." "Is it a question of competition?" " Yes, it must be." "The demand may also have dropped." "What is it used for?" "For perfumes." "And soap?" " Yes, also for soap and suchlike." "How did you meet your husband?" "I just did by accident." "At a party?" "No, by accident." "In a lane." "And then?" " Well... we got to know each other and then we got married." "And it was successful?" "Yes, because I have been living here for 27 years." "Are people leaving the area?" "Yes, many are leaving." "And what do you think about that?" "We take it as it comes." "But it must affect you?" "Yes, it does a bit." "But could you tell me... what the mountains mean to you?" "What do you think as you climb them?" "We have always lived here." "We think about the children, about family and friends... who have left for the city." "But we have always lived here." "We don't want to leave yet." "We have lived here." "And this is our life." "Do you ever think about how the world changes?" "Do you have any ideas about it?" "Yes, we think about it sometimes." "What do you think, then?" "We wonder what it will be like for those after us." "Like unemployment, for instance?" "Yes, exactly." "Because they talk about progress and its advantages." "But there are disadvantages too." "Such as?" "I wouldn't know." "In the Alps, I thought:" "'I'd like sometimes to be able to look at simply. '" "Rome." "The Boca della Verita." "The Mouth of Truth." "Putyour hand In and say:" "I love you." "Ifyou're lying, he'll bite It off." "I got to know my husband... in... nineteen... twenty-one." "I met him... when he was working in a tuna fish factory." "He sealed the cans of tuna." "And cans of... olive oil." "That was in the fascist era, right?" "That's when we came back." "We couldn't stay in Africa any longer, because of the Party." "My husband hadn't seen his relatives in ten years." "He wanted to see his village again." "So in 1923... we came back to the area of Reggio Emilia." "And then you became Italian?" "No, I have always been Italian since I was born." "I was acknowledged straight away by my father." "It wasn't a fake acknowledgement... for payment." "He personally went to register me as his daughter... with a woman he wasn't allowed to marry." "They weren't permitted to marry." "They just lived together, my father and my mother." "They had five children." "Four boys and one girl: me." "All with the Italian nationality?" " All of them." "The boys all joined the army to do their military service." "In 1923... you couldn't go out after nine o'clock in Italy." "The fascist party had set a curfew." "Voting was compulsory then." "Everywhere it said:" "Vote!" "People who didn't vote for the fascists didn't get jobs." "I was coloured... so I always had a crowd of children following me like flies." "They shouted: 'Look, a black woman, a Negress." "Look at that!" "'" "What about his relatives?" " His parents were terrible." "They didn't want to share a meal with me... because I was black." "In despair I said to him:" "Either you allow me to go back or I jump in front of a train." "The family suggested..." "I leave one of my daughters with my husband... and that I take the other one with me." "The older one I'd be allowed to keep." "She's not so black." "She's got black hair... and an olive skin." "The other one had a white skin and auburn hair." "She was white and she'd be for her father." "So the whiter one would stay?" " Yes, with her father." "And the dark one would come to Africa." "But I left for Africa with my two girls." "I said:" "I won't have anything to do with those people." "Give me my daughters... and I'll be off." "And my husband let me go." "After four months..." "I could buy a ticket for my husband." "He started work straight away." "Who was in power at that time?" "Always the Italians." "It was Italy." "And Eritrea was... a dominion, a protectorate." "At first it was better." "There weren't so many differences." "But later on we couldn't sit together or eat together." "We were always separate." "Was that segregation by colour?" " Yes, colour." "Apartheid?" " Yes, apartheid." "NUCLEAR POWER MEANS PROFIT FOR BOSSES..." "AND CANCER FOR THE PROLETARIAT" "When the Second World War had broken out... we received a convocation from the fascists... that was addressed to Comrade Spaggiari." "I said: 'My husband has never been a comrade of yours.'" "'We'll see about that after the war', they replied." "'We don't know yet who's going to win or lose.'" "God is great." "Do you remember the end of the Italian era?" "The end of the Italian period?" "They picked up all the Italians." "They put them all together on lorries whether they wanted to or not... and they shaved them bald." "And they abused them terribly." "Many of them died and many of them escaped." "And many of them got off and ended up in Kenya." "In Nairobi." "In concentration camps." "Were the English in power there then?" "Yes, the English." "What did the English do?" "The first thing they did was to start plundering for food." "And there was prostitution everywhere." "I even shook hands with Haile Selassie." "And then you returned to Italy?" "We had to leave in 1972." "Or we could stay... at our own risk." "But we had to leave." "Because the Italians were no longer in power." "Eritrea had become... independent." "We had become undesirables." "We left everything behind." "Everything." "We only brought some spices... because we couldn't live without." "And some pea flour." "That's really good." "Only food." "And some jewellery." "Gold." "Every year, my husband gave me a gold bracelet... on our wedding anniversary." "I had 48 of them." "When he fell ill..." "I had about 36 or 37." "They were very heavy." "They called me Lady Pompeii." "When you came back did you have a housing problem?" "For the first 45 days we were put in a boarding house." "In Rome?" " Yes, in Pensione Claudia." "We had enough to eat and drink." "They treated us well." "We had good food." "But on the 45th day... they called us all together." "They gave us 500,000 lire which we signed for... and the next day we were out on the street." "WE WON'T LEAVE THIS HOUSE UNTIL WE'RE DEAD" "Nonna Rosa from Erltrea... elghtyyears old... lives with her great-nlece Alba, and little Tonlno on the third floor." "Born from the union ofthe colonlser and the colonised... she has never been at home anywhere." "Erltrea, situated on the Red Sea... was colonised by the Italians about a hundred years ago." "Every civilised country... took Its share from the Afrlcan cake." "Later, Ethlopla was seized as well." "Flrst by the Italian fascists... and then by the Engllsh." "Then the colonial period ended and Emperor Halle Selassle returned." "In 1962 he annexed Eritrea to Ethlopla... to have a link with the sea." "Slnce then, Erltrea has been fighting for Its freedom." "Ethlopla bombed with napalm bombs." "Flrst with aid from capitalist countries... but since Ethlopla has become socialist, with Russlan assistance." "But for the suffering, we wouldn't have known the name Erltrea." "TH E CHURCH BELONGS TO TH E PEOPLE" "Let us pray." "O Father, we are here together this morning... to mourn for the death... of our sister Catarina Callauti... on its first anniversary." "In our lives and in our society... and in our history... there are so many things... that speak to us of death." "The evil that rules in the world, oppression... injustice, illness... hunger... and misery." "Think of our compatriots... who have risked their lives... sailing illegally to America." "And why?" "Thinking about their families, hunger and misery... and their bosses in Calabria." "Perhaps they had just finished building a house... when an earthquake destroyed everything... and they lost all their capital." "According to St Luke the same happened to the disciples." "They had put all their hopes... and all their trust in Jesus." "And it was all gone." "They didn't want to hear of it again." "The world was bad, wicked and nothing could be done about it." "Tell me Natale, how did the ideia for this atelier arise?" "We wanted to do something for the people... for the poor people in Calabria." "We wanted to combat emigration and unemployment." "So we thought of setting up a cooperative." "The principle of a cooperative... is at the same time a communal cultural evolution." "We are all equal and we take our decisions communally." "That means emancipation for the women." "Because for women... it's even more difficult to find work." "Natale, could you throw a bit more light on this lady?" "Madam, is it true what he's saying?" "Yes, I believe in what Natale was saying." "Because we in Calabria, and especially in Gioiosa... have always waited for jobs." "You can work on the land, but that doesn't pay anything." "I've been looking around for years... because I did want to work." "Then I heard that Natale had founded this cooperative... and I put my name down." "And now I work here." "I hope all turns out well." "Did you want to work or was it necessary?" "I had to work... because my husband has had an operation and he can't work." "And I have two daughters." "A family always costs money." "Was it easy as far as family relationships were concerned?" "Has it changed a lot?" "No, it hasn't changed much." "I get up, I do the housework, I come here... and when I get home I take care of the family." "Some things get neglected." "I've got two jobs, really." "What do you think of a priest like Natale?" "I think that whatever he says, he is always right." "The other priests... don't always say what is right, I think." "They don't speak the truth?" "They think of themselves and how to get rich... they and their relatives." "But Natale thinks of us." "He organised this cooperative." "The others didn't do anything." "Not in other villages either." "Natale was really sent by God... that he created all this for us." "Who would have cared for us poor people... if he hadn't?" "Glolosa lonlca, a village on the sole ofthe boot ofltaly." "Halfan hour further down the coast Is Locrl." "The priest there Is called Don Stllo." "A powerful man." "They say he has a gun under his robes." "Natale, you are working in a structure... that is corrupt, isn't it?" "I have become conscious of it, yes." "Since 1968 I have been working in Calabria, here in Locri." "First I was a rector in a seminary." "Then I started taking an interest... in a village in the mountains... at about 1000 metres above sea level." "I became interested in the people there." "I was struck by the fact that they saw in me, a priest... a powerful man who could do them favours." "For instance, they would ask me for help in finding work for them." "Right away I refused... to play that role." "I am not a powerful man... and I don't want to be one." "Then somebody asked:" "Do you know Don Stilo?" "He has a lot of influence." "They said he was involved in the mafia." "One day, at a meeting of priests people complained... that young men didn't want to become priests." "So I said:" "In our diocese there are priests who are accused... of being mafia bosses." "We do nothing against the situation." "How can we hope, with that corrupt image of the Church... that young men want to become priests?" "Then Don Stilo came to see me after the meeting and he said:" "You are nothing but an ant." "I could crush you." "And in the end... an old curate said to me:" "We know better than you." "You've been here for too little time... to know how to conduct yourself." "You'd better keep quiet if you don't want to be killed." "I think your brother's story is very revealing." "Could you tell us some more about your brother?" "About what he did for people?" "He worked for the common good." "He never took anyone's side." "He was good-natured and helped everybody." "Friends and family." "Perhaps I should add that he was a miller." "He took the flour round the villages." "He started out single-handedly." "Later we had our own mill." "Then the mafia came... and tried to set fire to it or they burgled us... so that we would leave the place." "Then one of the mafia bosses was killed here in Gioiosa... and everybody was told to close down their businesses." "But your brother... remained true to his principles." "He felt it was unjust that such people... should force other people to close down shop." "He did not close down the mill... and he said that mafia people were doing this... and tyrannising people." "One day he was taking flour to one of his customers." "They attacked him from behind a hedge." "Your brother denounced their evil practices... and he paid for his courage with his life." "All these people... were killed in the last five years... by the mafia." "I go from face to face." "In the treadmill of overproduction, madness and profit for the few." "I don't know." "Maybe the dead would rather have lived." "We cross the sea to a country... which can breathe, eat and drink... thanks to a river: the Nlle." "Its banks, two narrow strips ofgreen." "Its delta, where It branches off before flowing out Into the sea." "The rest Is sand." "The liveable area Is no bigger than Holland." "Forty million people live on It." "Each year, one million are added." "FOREVER..." "MY LOVE" "The day before 'Aid al-Kablr', the Feast ofSacrlflce..." "Calro Is full of animals waiting to be killed." "Look at him working." "The man's an artist!" "A satisfied man Is looking out." "Ramadan, born In the Musllm fasting month..." "Is a civil servant as well as a taxi driver." "Slnce the war with Israel which wasn't lost, the one In 1973... things are said to be going well." "The doors to the West have been opened and fast money can be made." "The new trades generate a new class." "Importing and exporting luxury goods." "Luxury construction." "In Ramadan's family there will be lots ofmlnced meat tonight." "They want to show they can afford It." "Tell them to come back tomorrow... and eat with us." "We should have invited them tonight." "Who's going to kill for us now?" "Can't Ibn Gadanfar come?" "He's the one who killed Saadi's sheep." "Let me do it." "Poor animal!" "The bloody hands on the wall... guard against the evil eye." "The little boy Is one step closer to being a man." "The first morning ofthe celebrations they stuffthemselves with meat." "Those who have It." "Mostpeople get less and less." "Less protein per head ofthe population." "It's also the day ofthe young." "They swarm out across the squares, the parks... among the pyramids." "Early on the second morning people head for the cemeteries... to spend the day with the dead." "Better-offfamllles have little houses on or near their graves." "Durlng the rest ofthe year these are Inhablted by the homeless." "'And He it is...' '...who made the sleep a rest...'" "'...and made the night...' '...a covering for you...'" "Don't go away." "I've got food for you." "We give alms for the repose of our deceased." "We come here every year during the Feast of Sacrifice." "On these days one is meant to go to the graves." "Everyone goes and you meet everybody." "All the family and friends." "We all meet again here." "Ramadan, where are we?" "This is our family vault." "We gather here for religious celebrations." "Our dead are buried here." "My father rests here, my grandfather... as well as others." "You give food to the poor people?" "We kill animals for the poor... so they will pray for our dead." "We hire people to read from the Qur'an." "There are many poor people here?" "They're not all poor." "They want aims as souvenirs." "It brings good luck." "It's a gift from God." "Ramadan's brother Gamal..." "Is a guard at the newly built Sheraton." "I left the army in 1977." "I was a commando." "They were the best years of my life." "It was tough to leave the service." "I missed my comrades." "After I'd left the army..." "I became a guard at the Sheraton Hotel." "I keep out any unwanted visitors... to stop them... from committing offences." "I earn 50 dollars a month." "I would need at least 120 dollars a month... to be able to marry." "I've got financial worries." "What can you do with 50 dollars?" "Cigarettes cost me 18 dollars a month." "Public transport is 10 dollars." "I spend around 20 dollars on food." "It's hard to get out of this life." "He who worships any other than God... will go to hell." "Ifman abuses his free will... he ceases to be free." "He does not have the right... to use the freedom God has given him... to decide whether he wants to believe or not." "He must use his freedom... to hold his own In thls world." "He cannot choose." "He lives In thls world according to God's plan." "He must sow and reap." "In heaven, he won't have to any more." "There, all will be In abundance." "He who obeys God voluntarily... will be rewarded In the heavens." "Ifl renounce certain desires..." "I wlll forever be happy In heaven." "Sadat:" "Llbya, South Yemen and the Palestlnlans... support the Sovlet Union agalnstAfghanlstan." "Thelr crimes not only concern the Arabs... but the entire Muslim world." "That's why we're calling for the creation... of an alliance ofMusllm nations... and Arab nations." "And let us not forget the civil war In Lebanon... which has been going on for seven years." "Lebanon Is divided." "The Syrlans are In Lebanon." "SaudiArabla, Kuwalt and others... are financing the activities... of the Syrlan army." "Israel has annexed a piece ofLebanon... and Is building roads there." "A doctor friend... arranges for us to visit Fawzl, a night watchman." "It's hard to get to speak to a poor man, though there are millions of them." "Fawzi and his wife, brother, slster-In-law and two children..." "live In a 3-by-3-metre room..." "In a district being built on the outskirts." "How is your life?" "Bad." "Really bad." "I work at night and sleep during the day." "Why did you move to Cairo?" " I've been here five months now." "I was a farmer." "But that was a very hard life." "Did you go to school?" " No." "There was no one who looked after me." "How old are you?" " I'm 45." "And your wife?" "She's 18." " No, 15." "How much do you earn?" " 25 dollars a month." "How much do you spend?" "How much do you save?" "The rent is 12 dollars." "I have to live off the rest." "How much do you spend on food?" "More than 2 dollars a day." "I work all night." "Till 6 in the morning." "How many hours?" "12 hours." "From the night to the morning." "How is life here in this area?" "Bad." "It's a bad place to live." "Tell them it's certo." " It's certo." "We mustn't give these people a bad impression." "Even if it's hard, tell them it's certo." "Let's keep the truth between ourselves." "The foreigners don't need to know." "Say it's certo." "What do these people want?" "What do they want?" "They're foreigners." "The doctor sent them here." "They want to make a film about us." "Is this doctor a foreigner?" " No." "But she knows these foreigners." "There's no danger, don't be scared." "They're just making a film." "No problems?" "But at least they're paying you?" "They're not paying him anything." "I'm getting 25 dollars, aren't I?" "We'll talk about it when we're done." "The new arrivals from the south put thelrpossesslons on the platform." "Up the river Nlle." "The Sun Boat." "Accordlng to a poll In the Washlngton Post... president Carter Is ahead ofRonald Reagan." "42 percent ofthose canvassed... said they were voting for Carter... while Reagan got 39 percent." "Edltorlallsts believe, however... the difference Is too small... to be able to pick a winner." "Irã has announced that Iraq... has attacked the city ofAbadan..." "Go!" "They just want to take a picture." "Tomorrow you'll be on TV." "No, it's not meant for you." "Go!" "On my return to the city, I'm thinking..." "It's hard to touch reality."