My Chair and I

Shut away in his home, at the top of a very steep staircase of thirty steps, Enzo Del Re manages—though not without effort—to bend the world to himself rather than be bent by it. A Puglian storyteller of extraordinary evocative power, Enzo Del Re is also a musician of remarkable innovative ability in musical production and in the use of humble, makeshift instruments. An icon of Apulian music, little known yet overwhelming once discovered. Through his story, three important decades of the Italian cultural scene are retraced, from Nanni Ricordi to Dario Fo, all the way to Nuova Scena and the Circoli Ottobre. Then darkness, and today the rediscovery of Del Re at the May Day concert in 2010 alongside Vinicio Capossela. Today he claims that he “did not fight for a pension, but for the revolution.”

Directed by Angelo Amoroso D'Aragona, My Chair and I leans on a strong ensemble — Enzo Del Re, Vittorio Franceschi, Claudio Lolli — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about documentary titles of 2010.