At the entrance to the courtyard where Paola Cortellesi's 2023 film "There's Still Tomorrow" was filmed, a hit with over 5 million viewers and box office success, in Rome's popular Testaccio neighborhood, the gateposts and walls of the complex were defaced last night with swastikas, Nazi symbols, and a Celtic cross. AMA, the municipal environmental company, immediately intervened and cleaned up the mess.
"'There's Still Tomorrow' is a film about democracy and the courage of women. The climate of intimidation is increasingly evident, the violence of vandalism increasingly brazen, but Testaccio is an anti-fascist neighborhood. We do not tolerate the normalization of these actions, nor do we condone violence," says the ANPI, which created the Permanent Anti-Fascist Observatory earlier this year. " We want it to become a concrete tool for documenting and responding to every episode of neo-fascist violence in the area," the partisans' association added.
"The appearance of Celtic crosses and symbols of the Third Reich in the heart of a historically popular and anti-fascist neighborhood like Testaccio is an intolerable provocation. We are facing an increasingly blatant climate of impunity, fueled by a right-wing government struggling to sever ties with its past," commented Giovanni Barbera, secretary of the Rome Federation of the Communist Refoundation Party and member of the party's national leadership. Condemnation also came from the local CGIL (Italian General Confederation of Labour).
The Democratic Party, the Italian Socialist Party (PD), the Italian Workers' Union (AVS), the Italian General Confederation (CGIL), and the Italian Communist Party (PRC) have organized an anti-fascist rally for Monday, February 23, at 5:30 p.m., in front of the main entrance at Via Bodoni 96, "to reaffirm with our presence that Testaccio is and remains a proudly anti-fascist neighborhood. Rome cannot and must not get used to the sight of the swastika."
"There's Still Tomorrow" marked the directorial debut of Paola Cortellesi, who also co-wrote and starred in the film. The award-winning and beloved film has been screened at numerous festivals and in Italian schools. The film became a symbol of women's emancipation during the years of the birth of the Republic, when women gained the right to vote.
(Unioneonline)