Cadenas
Francesca Balbo
Italy | 2012 | 60 min
World premiere
Languages : Italian, Sardinian
Subtitle : English
The gatekeepers along a gauge railway line in Sardinia spend their days locking and unlocking the chains that block the local level crossing. They know their job is at risk. But they keep on working. When the company decides to cut their salary they all march across the city to protest. But to no avail. Their job is deemed old-fashioned. Cadenas is the story of a world that is forced to disappear.
The gatekeepers along a narrow gauge railway line in the inland part of Sardinia spend their days locking and unlocking the chains that block the local level crossing. They know their job is at risk. But they keep on working. Dressed up in their fluorescent coats, they constantly keep their watchful eye on the timetable so that each train can pass in safety with no risk of harming the people who cross the rails. The days go by one after another while the women at the gate tend to their duty. When the company decides to cut their salary they all march across the city to protest. But to no avail. Their job is deemed old-fashioned. These women can easily be replaced by metal bars served by photo cells. Director Francesca Balbo, who won the documentary Solinas Award for her project in 2009, focuses her gaze on a world that is almost outside of time. The rails of the train are the only remnants of an industrial revolution that is already forgotten while a new era threatens to completely erase every little reminder of the past. Like a John Ford western, Cadenas is the story of a world that is forced to disappear to make place for a new one.
Giona A. Nazzaro