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director Anna Bucchetti
screenplay Anna Bucchetti
country The Netherlands/Italy
year 2005
duration 75 minutes
media Digibeta PAL
color B/W
language OmeU
producer Andr? Bos, Hans Mulder
production "Armadillo Film Hans Mulder/Andr? Bos Po. Box 51056 1007 EB Amsterdam Niederlande Fon: +31 20 627 3272 Fax: +31 20 627 3265 info@armadillofilm.nl"
cinematography Stefano Bertacchini
sound Bouwe Mulder
editor Katarina T?rler
music Lucio Caliendo
distribution
"First Hand Films
Esther van Messel
Schaffauserstrasse 359
8050 Z?rich
Schweiz
Fon: +41 44 312 2060
Fax: +41 44 312 2080
Esther.van.messel@firsthandfilms.com"
"Naples is a city with many crowded pour neighborhoods . Tucked into these areas are ?ricevitorie?, small gambling offices where people go daily to play the lottery.
Visitors do not pick their lotto numbers randomly, instead their numbers have personal associations with happy or tragic events they experienced; for them there is a direct link between the chosen numbers and their attempt to change destiny. All daily events seem to have meaning for the Neapolitans, and are transformed on to the lotto form. In Dreaming By Numbers, some regular visitors to a local gambling office are portrayed and tell their personal stories in wich faith is interwoven into the rest of their lives. The intimate images of the small office run by two sisters, Maria and Angela, is combined with vivid street scenes. The result is a balance between realism and magic.
The people portrayed in this film keep hunting for luck:: some of them play the same numbers during a lifetime, because of the special meaning for them. They all believe in numbers, and in their power to make their life change."
directors statement
"My starting point is the Neapolitan belief in numbers.
Why do we believe in something? The belief in numbers first came into existence and was handed down in order to control fear. While waiting for some magic to happen the Neapolitans are surrounded by daily reality: life in a chaotic city, unemployment, personal tragedies. So the lotto is not a Fremdk?rper, something separate from everyday reality. On the contrary, it is an expression of the culture and of the spirit of the Neapolitans: the game of chance expresses the need for hope in a town devoid of hope. The numbers are woven with everyday life just like ordinary activities such as sleeping and eating."
biography
"Anna Bucchetti was born in Milan in 1963 where she studied at the Film and Tv Academy (CFP) as lighting cameraman.
In 1992 she moved to Amsterdam where she started working on human interests items
for local ?multicultural?television. Between 1994 and 2003 she wrote and directed
several documentaires (for the youth serial ?YOY?, for VPRO and NPS Broadcast).
In 2004 she was chief editor for Educational television (Etv) in Amsterdam by Frontmedia. "
