Galeotto was Aftersun. It was after seeing Charlotte Wells’ film about a summer spent by a girl with her father at the cinema that her inspiration knocked on her door. Zero limestone. «He has moved things in me that I had never talked about, about myself, my father and more generally what relationships between males are today», says the forty-year-old cartoonist from Rebibbia, who will present the result at the Salone (When you die, it remains with me, Bao Publishing) with a meeting tomorrow at 3.30pm in the Auditorium and three sessions of “drawings”, today at 2pm, tomorrow and Sunday morning from 10.30am.
How do these sessions work?
«I arrive at 10.30, I sit down, listen to people’s requests, draw and often get up after sunset».
Do they ask you something strange?
«Absurd stuff like “my grandmother with the appearance of Godzilla” or “my two newborn children, but drawn by teenagers while they argue but you can see that they love each other”. In Turin you can usually also feel the football influence: I draw bulls of all types.”
No zebras?
“Few, they ask me for many more in other cities.”
In When you die it stays with me delves a lot into the past. How come?
«Because people are the sum of their experiences, sometimes even those of the generations that preceded them. It’s difficult to understand and describe someone without going back.”
In the book he is surprised to discover his youth spent as a protester of his father, who he always considered the gentlest person in the world. Will it follow the same path?
“I do not believe. I continue to dedicate myself to the most unpopular issues of this country, such as the defense of Alfredo Cospito and Ilaria Salis. Although perhaps today I do it in a more conversational way.”
At the Salone he could cross paths with Matteo Salvini (expected today at the Piemme stand for a copy signing), with whom there has been no shortage of disagreements in the past. Would the approach be dialogue-based?
«People are one thing, characters who exploit people’s discomfort are another. I talk to the former every day, even with those who vote for the latter. I try to relate to them and respect their opinion, but I don’t take an inch back. Although I realize that many things have changed, in my life and in society. A piece of politics as I knew it has dried up, even the social centers either no longer exist or have a different function.”
In Turin Askatasuna, with which it has a close bond, was recognized as a “common good”.
“I’m happy that the important function it has always played for the city has been recognised.”
What do you think of Ilaria Salis’ candidacy for the European Championships?
«That inside that room I clearly perceived that there is no possibility of a democratic process: everything is already written. I didn’t know anything about his candidacy, but I don’t think there was a different way to proceed. I hope it goes well. Then we must not forget that the trial is not only against her, we must also help the other 18 accused people.”
War appears in the book, with crude images of trenches from the First World War. A reference to current events?
«Originally, no. The Great War is part of the DNA of the Veneto villages in which the story is set: when talking about their past, I couldn’t help but refer to it. Writing it, however, I realized that it is the first time in my life that I have drawn war scenes and it happens just as it is starting to appear again in everyday life.”
Would knowing that past better help us avoid repeating it?
“Probably yes. The problem is that we know that past in a somewhat embalmed way. I am convinced that many people who today get excited about military interventions do so because they are not clear about what war really is.”
Have you ever thought about writing a story about the future?
«No, I’m too crepuscular and projected into the past to do it. Already at the age of eight I regretted being seven. I’m afraid it would make me a little sad and I don’t want to make books that are too sad.”
