Storming the Summit — The Bloody Days of Genoa
(44 minutes) Germany/Italy
Directors: Michael Busse, Marie Rosa Bobbi
Producer: Heribeit Blondiau

Description:

In July 2001, the leaders of the world’s largest industrial nations gathered in Genoa, Italy for the annual G-8 Economic Summit. While in the comfort of a newly remodeled Palazzo Ducale the heads of state and their advisors discussed international free trade and transport of goods, 300,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Genoa calling for change. The government of Silvio Berlusconi, which had been in power for only a few short weeks, called up 20,000 police to restrain the crowd. Never before had so many people converged on a G-8 venue in protest. Never before had the police response been so brutal as it was in Genoa. Through conversations with politicians and others directly affected, the filmmakers try to uncover answers to some haunting questions. Why did the police attack the wrong people so brutally while, at the same time, roughly 800 hooligans from England, Germany, and other European countries rampage through the city setting fires and destroying property as the police, some say, stood idly by?

Biography:

From 1962-1968, Michael Busse worked as a freelance cameraman for many organizations in Germany. He lectured at the Film and TV Academy in Berlin from 1969 to 1972. Michael worked on different TV shows with George Moorse, Chuck Kerremans, and Heinz Liesendahl for the Bavaria company, on behalf of WDR. He attended the University of Hanover and studied commercial French at the University of Grenoble.

Maria-Rosa Bobbi studied art history and foreign languages at the University of Parma, earning a scholarship from the French state to study linguistics at the University of Grenoble. Since 1980, she has worked as a freelance journalist and producer. She has worked on production of approximately fifty documentaries and reportages together with Michael Busse for various channels of ARD, ZDF, and ARTE.

Contact Information:

German Uniteed Distributors
Programmvertrieb GmbH
Richarzstr. 6 — 8a
D — 50667 Koln
E-mail: Bettina.oebel@germanunited.com