THE GARBAGE MAN

“The genesis of The Garbage Man is a potent ‘what if’ image inspired by the tragedy of Melissa Bassi, the schoolgirl killed by a bomb outside her school in 2012: in this film, a street cleaner finds a bomb, on the job, and saves her. The core of the film is this: the everyday hero who finds beauty in his trade. In the production of an independent film, with all the challenges that entails, in Italy, I tried to created a genre film that dared to put the image before the story itself. Together with the cinematographer Daniele Poli and the production designer Fabio Tresca, we tried to create a visual universe that would convey strong emotions and celebrate the potency of the filmic image.” (Alfonso Bergamo)

Alfonso Bergamo was born in Battipaglia in 1986. He studied film, attending NUCT (the New University of Cinema and Television), ACT (Academy of Cinema and Television, at the Cinecittà studios), and RUFA (the Rome University of Fine Arts). After directing numerous short films, in 2016, he made his first feature, Il Ragazzo della Giudecca, starring Giancarlo Giannini, Franco Nero, and Tony Sperandeo. His short film Il Soffio, made in 2020 during the lockdown, made the rounds of over forty international festivals. The Garbage Man is Bergamo’s second feature-length film.