Notes of the Passage

Appunti del passaggio introduces a minor perspective into the ways in which the historical phenomenon of migration from southern to northern Europe is represented today, testing the validity of History and exposing it to the first-hand accounts of those who actually made the passage. The film reconstructs forgotten episodes related to migration from Italy to Switzerland in the 1960s, which was characterized by immigrant workers being restricted to the sphere of production, by discrimination and rising xenophobia, and by the use of "health risks" as a strategy to control immigration and the legality of border crossings. Following the narration of a young woman, which gradually gives way to a polyphonic narrative, Appunti del passaggio gives precedence to the accounts of the people who lived out the historical event in question from a subordinate position – accounts that were recorded and later used as transcripts for the making of the film. It also recirculates and remediates archival images, taking them out of their institutional framework so that the people who were once in the place of those depicted in the pictures can comment on these images.