5th Cinecittà Italian Doc Fest: Stories for Sandro

Writer: Giacomo Boeri, Alberta Molajoni

Director: Giacomo Boeri

Giacomo Boeri’s film Stories for Sandro is an imaginative account filmed over five years of Sandro, Boeri’s father, who is living with Alzheimer’s. Boeri cherishes the hope that if he can somehow use film to recreate some of Sandro’s memories, then perhaps the disease can be stayed. But he’s honest enough to include voices of dissent. He films his mother spelling out how Alzheimer’s progresses – Sandro will stop being able to recognise those closest to him. Whole chunks of his past memories will simply disappear. Boeri over time has to recognise that this is indeed what is happening.

When filming began, you’d not notice anything is wrong. Sandro is a fit-looking older man seen performing a strenuous exercise routine. But the post-it notes stuck everywhere give the game away: telling him where he’ll find his keys, reminding him to brush his teeth. But at this stage, he’s still able to drive. He’s feeling optimistic, he tells his son Giacomo (Boeri himself).  He’s taking some drugs from China that he’s read about online.

Giacomo clings to a piece of research about a Spanish man who, despite not knowing his wife’s name, can remember every kick goal scored by a favourite player. It’s because the memory is exciting, apparently. Giacomo’s imagination takes fire. What if he can get his father to recall intense memories? “I’ll take those stories and turn them into little films!” he declares.

There’s something charmingly naïve about both father and son.  One of the father’s favourite memories is falling in love aged 12. He still adores Françoise Hardy’s 1962 hit, Tous les garçons et les filles, remembering the feelings it evoked of loneliness and longing. In 1968 as a young philosophy student, he takes part in the student demonstrations. He later becomes a journalist. He’s a thorough romantic. His friends used to call him ‘Nuvolari’ because he always had his head in the clouds. It was his “vagueness” that first attracted his wife.

Boeri illustrates moments from his father’s life with photos and old ciné footage. Meanwhile Sandro continues his weekly check-in on zoom with a medical specialist. Each week starts with the same question. Can Sandro say what today is? The blunt fact is that it gets more and more difficult for him to answer.

Gradually we see Boeri’s noble attempts to recreate scenes from his father’s past. As a child, Sandro was in a car accident, the family’s Fiat 1400 sliding off an icy road and plunging into deep water. Boeri builds a studio set, sprays a classic Fiat with fake snow and employs an actor who is dropped into a tank of water. Will this evoke Sandro’s memories? It’s hard to say. But there’s a poignant glimpse of the older man contentedly playing with a miniature car on the mock-up of the road.

In a more down-to-earth scene, Sandro’s wife sorts through cupboards full of his old clothes, making a pile of stuff he hasn’t worn for years. Behind her back, Sandro mischievously retrieves an old scarf, stuffing it back where it came from.

Stories for Sandro is all beautifully filmed, particularly the scenes in the studio. A memory of fishing alone as a boy is cleverly recreated. There’s an extraordinary war story in which Sandro, then a mortar operator, realises he’s been given the wrong co-ordinates. He warns the general. The general refuses to listen – twice. Sandro dutifully fires. The general is collateral damage.

Mother and daughter express concerns about the ethics of trying to get Sandro to remember, and as the film progresses, we may find ourselves in agreement. Nonetheless, Stories for Sandro is an immensely watchable, tender film.

Stories for Sandro is screening at the 5th Cinecittà Italian Doc Fest on 4-5 July.