Lucca is seen as a place of liberation and community in Manlio Castagna’s film
“I first came to Lucca in 2018, and at the time I thought it was a carnival with a lot of people in strange costumes and things like that,” says director Manlio Castagna. diverse. “But when I entered this amazing walled city, I felt like it wasn’t just a carnival, but a place where people can feel happy with their identities. Lucca of comics and games is a place where people can be who they want to be. They wear masks to show their true selves.”
Castagna is the director of the new documentary “I Love Lucca Comics & Games,” an emotional love letter to Europe’s largest comic convention. For five days, the medieval Italian city in the heart of Tuscany is transformed into a cosplay Mecca, with book signings, artist events, performances, exhibitions and concerts as more than 300,000 visitors flock to the streets and squares.
Using the metaphor of a mandala, Castagna’s film gradually builds a picture piece by piece that follows the stories of organizers, artists, writers, game designers, filmmakers, and fans and how they interact.
“This is a film about communities,” Castagna says. “It’s a place where bridges are more important than walls. It’s important to show how gratitude, for example, is a kind of glue between ordinary people, ordinary people in quotes, ordinary people, the community, the artist and the guest.”
There are shots of fans meeting their favorite artists and writers, and what makes it poignant is that outside of their fandom, the stars of the comic book or gaming scene may not be household names, so here they get a taste of the appreciation that fans feel. After finding compelling stories among fans via social media, Castagna filmed throughout the festival with two camera units. An on-site editing area was provided and the festival gave the director access to VIPs and guests such as best-selling authors R.L. Stine and Licia Troisi, rapper Frankie High NRJMC and comic book artists Pira Tunes, Seo, Yoshitaka Amano and Roberto Riccio. “The first day there was heavy rain and it was difficult but then the sun came out in the following days.”
One of the most poignant stories in the film is the portrait of a father and son who bond over their love of geek culture. “I’ve been going to schools for 25 years because I was deputy director of the Giffoni Children’s Film Festival. So I communicate with young people, and I’ve seen with my own eyes how this culture has changed over the years. In the beginning, when I started reading comics, the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons was only for a certain segment of people. In schools, this kind of art was not viewed very well. For example, the two or three children who read Manga get bullied. Now it’s just the opposite when I go to classes, all the kids know about this: manga, anime, D&D. Lucca Comics & Games is a window into seeing this change, but at the same time the engine of this transformation.
Some of the people included in Castagna’s documentary had their lives changed by Luca’s experience. They meet their life partners. They go out; They find friendship and community. “Actually, the first title that popped into my mind when I was filming was ‘The Happiness Effect’, because Lucca has that kind of effect on people. Lucca can affect you as a place full of magic and full of these amazing special people. For example, people stand in line for hours and hours, and they’re always happy. There are a lot of people, and we never see a fight or a conflict. It’s a great example of how a community can be.”
Returning to the metaphor of the mandala highlighted in the film, Castagna explains: “Lucca Comics & Games thrives on the collective contribution of thousands of people: organisers, exhibitors, artists and audience. It is a collective ritual that reflects, in its composition, the patient construction of the festival itself. But, like the mandala, the festival is also destined to disintegrate. Every element, the squares return to emptiness, and the streets resume their rhythm. All that remains is memory and anticipation for the next edition, when the design begins to take shape again.
The Lucca Comics & Games Expo runs from October 29th to November 2nd. “I Love Lucca Comics & Games” is released by I Wonder Pictures in Italy on November 10.