''Eddy'' is a 2014 Italian film written, directed, and scored by Simone Borrelli, who also starred in the film. The film is supported by the presidency of the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

of the

Italian Republic Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and had an exclusive world premiere in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

on 15 October 2014, where it received the accolade of being Official Human Rights Movie 2015 from the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

. The film is about violence against children, volunteer doctors, and terrorist attacks in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Plot

Rodrigo is a young Italian surgeon who leaves Italy to volunteer at a field hospital in

, where there are a large number of innocent victims of violence of war as a result of the ongoing civil war. He was called to this location to help with as many of the resulting medical emergencies as possible. Just before leaving his home in Italy, his girlfriend Sofia tells him she is expecting a baby, hoping to convince him to stay. Finding himself at a very important moment in his life, in which he is becoming a father for the first time, Rodrigo's determination to carry on with his commitment as a doctor causes an argument with Sofia. This argument results in Sofia unwillingly accepting Rodrigo's decision to leave. Once Rodrigo arrives at the Syrian field hospital (located at the Syrian-Turkish border), he immediately becomes aware of the difficult place where he has ended up. He spends days witnessing the disturbing consequences of violence and finds himself saving primarily children, who continuously arrive at the hospital in critical condition. Here, Rodrigo learns about "the green parrots", little landmines disguised as parrot-shaped toys. These boobytraps are scattered all over the territory to attract unsuspecting victims who are mostly children. One day, exhausted from having to watch the horror and violence as just a spectator and without intervening, Rodrigo loses his self-control and impulsively takes action in such a way that goes against the local code of ethics. After this forbidden action occurs, the equilibrium is destroyed, bringing all the characters to their inescapable destiny.

Accolades

This film had an exclusive premiere screening for the 47 heads of state and their delegations of the Member States at the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg on 15 October 2014, where it was acclaimed as "Official Human Rights Movie 2015" by the Council of Europe. Furthermore, through an official public notice of the State Secretariat (UCE FF 887/2014), the Italian Prime Minister,

Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having bee ...

and the Presidency of the council of Ministers of the Italian Republic decided to give Simone Borrelli and Eddy their official high patronage for the film's high social, cultural and artistic significance. The film has been translated and subtitled into over 10 languages with the support of the Alma Mater Studiorum at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

Institutional partners

Apart from being promoted by the Ministry of Education, University and Research, the film is also supported by prestigious International partners such as

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

, and

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

such as

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), known in some English-speaking settings as Doctors Without Borders, is a charity that provides humanitarian medical care. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of French origin known for its projects in conflict zo ...

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

Distribution

After being acclaimed as an "Official Human Rights Movie" at the exclusive premiere in Strasbourg, in 2015 ''Eddy'' was planned to be distributed in all of the 47 European states within the network of the

Production details

*Though ''Eddy'' is set in the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

' valley in

, the film was shot entirely within the

Province of Reggio Calabria The province of Reggio Calabria () was a province in the Calabria region of Italy. It was the southernmost province in mainland Italy and is separated from the island of Sicily by the Strait of Messina. The capital was the city of Reggio. It w ...

. *''Eddy'' is a rare film project in the history of cinema in that just one artist, Simone Borrelli, created the film as the only scriptwriter, director and

leading actor A leading actor, leading actress, or leading man or lady or simply lead (), plays a main role in a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person w ...

, while also being the only composer, arranger, musician of the scores and singer in the film's original soundtrack.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eddy 2014 films Films set in Syria Films shot in Italy Films about human rights Films about children 2010s Italian-language films Italian war drama films 2014 war drama films 2014 drama films