She left from Genoa to tell the story of Agitu Gudeta, an Ethiopian shepherdess symbol of integration and female emancipation who lived in Trentino and who, in 2020, was barbarically killed by one of her former employees.
Francesca Capra, Genoese director and screenwriter, felt that Agitu’s story had to be told without dwelling on the feminicide, so as not to lose sight of what the shepherdess did and represented in life.
Who was Agitu and why tell it in a film
“Aghi” as many called her, had arrived in Trento in 2010, fleeing from Ethiopia because she was persecuted as an environmental and social activist and for her fight against the expropriation, by multinationals, of the properties of native farmers. In Trentino you had started “La Capra Felice”, a farm with farmyard animal breeding built on previously abandoned land. Among her products, dairy products with natural methods and cosmetics based on a native breed, the Pezzata Mochena goat, combining technology and environmental sustainability. Her activity had been rewarded with various awards, including the Legambiente Green Flag for Trentino and the Dairy Resistance award assigned by Slow Food
“I knew her and followed her even before her tragic end – says Francesca Capra – and I always found her to be a beautiful character. Now, years after her death, I think it’s time to let her story emerge. It’s He was a character to remember and to be inspired by.” And to do so, more or less a year and a half ago, Capra first contacted Agitu’s family members to inform them of the project. After receiving their approval, interviews began with relatives and friends in Trentino, where screenwriter Francesca Bertoni also joined the project.
From the interviews, Capra and Bertoni derived Agitu’s biography and adapted it to the cinematic story.
“I immersed myself in the lives of the shepherds to understand that of Agitu”
In the meantime, the director came into contact with a shepherd who decided to take some of Agitu’s 130 goats after his death. “I did a sort of internship – laughs Capra – to immerse myself in the daily life of Agitu. So I stayed for several weeks in recent months, I followed the grazing, then in July I will also dedicate myself to sheep farming and dairy art. It’s a tough life made up of alarm clocks at dawn, weights to lift, animals to look after all round and in the meantime we also have to think about production”. The plans also include a trip to Ethiopia (where the film will also be partly set) to immerse oneself in the places of the shepherdess’s childhood and period of activism.
At the same time, contact with relatives: “When Agitu died they had been under the media spotlight for some time, so at first they were a bit sceptical. Then they understood that I didn’t want to exploit Agitu’s story, I truly believe in her struggles and in the strength of this woman who, having escaped from Ethiopia, was able to get back on her feet with her own business”.
“We won’t talk about Agitu’s death: the film wants to celebrate his life”
The choice, as already written, is to talk about the life and not the death of Agitu: “Many have highlighted this tragic episode, but the co-writer Francesca Bertoni and I want to celebrate her life. Therefore there will be no femicide , the film will end sooner, I have been categorical about this. We want to excite the public, make them reflect on the injustices they have suffered, on their battles, but also on their smile and their extraordinary reaction. It will be a hymn to life.”
Now Capra and Bertoni are starting a dialogue with some production companies, but they think that within a few weeks the project will be better defined and will be able to enter a new phase, that of realization.
