The 65th International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film opens on 17 October, 2022 with the German premiere of "No Dogs or Italians Allowed”. In the film, French director and screenwriter Alain Ughetto traces the lives of his grandparents from Northern Italy to their migration to France in the first half of the 20th century. It will be the second time that a long animated film has kicked off the festival.
In tragicomic style, the stop-motion animation portrays the tough conditions in a Piedmontese mountain village. There, the men of the family have to take seasonal work in the French Alps or fight in colonial and world wars, while the women and children do the field work. When the fascists come to power in Italy, the Ughettos decide to emigrate to the neighbouring country.
"With this imaginatively directed puppet animation, Alain Ughetto has created a warm-hearted memorial to his Italian grandparents Cesira and Luigi," said festival Director Christoph Terhechte. "The director finds himself in this family chronicle, recognises his predilection for working with his hands. Soon the film becomes a reflection on telling stories with what these hands shaped."
Within the narrative framework of "No Dogs or Italians Allowed”, Ughetto stages himself in dialogue with his grandmother, who is portrayed as a puppet figure. He also humorously reveals the design of his cinematic world: landscapes out of materials such as clay, cardboard, cotton, and even chestnuts and broccoli.
As an animator and screenwriter for more than 40 years, Ughetto has made stop-motion animation and a do-it-yourself aesthetic his trademarks. He began his career with animated shorts in the 1980s and won France’s César Award for "La boule" in 1985.
Ughetto's first feature-length film "Jasmine" (2013), a love story during the Islamic Revolution in Tehran, was nominated for the European Film Award in the Best Animated Feature Film category. "No Dogs or Italians Allowed" celebrated its world premiere in June 2022 at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it received the Jury Award and the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution.
The opening ceremony of DOK Leipzig takes place on 17 October, 2022 at 7 pm at CineStar 8. There will also be a free public showing of "No Dogs or Italians Allowed" at 8:30 pm at Leipzig Central Station (Osthalle). The director Alain Ughetto will attend both of these screenings.
