By the end of summer ants have already made provisions for a comfortable, peaceful winter. Cicadas on the other hand have sung the entire time and will die of cold. What would happen if the grains of wheat the ants put aside weren’t enough to last through the winter?
The Cicadas is an intimate journey through the lives of people who have already gone into retirement or will soon be forced to go into early retirement and find themselves fighting to survive because the current welfare state can no longer guarantee a peaceful “winter of life”.

When winter arrives, the grains of wheat they set aside aren’t enough, not even to know for certain whether they will have a roof over their heads. But these pensioners and workers made redundant before receiving full retirement benefits have not been defeated by fate. Their spirit has not been broken because they know that it’s their right to arrive on their deathbeds alive. It is a tale told in unison by the “cicadas”. A tale of the truths that the youth of today may be faced with in the future, a future much similar to that of the present day elderly.

Written and directed by EMILIANO MANCUSO and FEDERICO ROMANO
Photography by EMILIANO MANCUSO e FEDERICO ROMANO
Editing ALINE HERVÈ
Original Soundtrack ANGELO OLIVIERI
Editing Audio and Sound Design GIUSEPPE D’AMATO
Color Grading ROBERTO NIEDDU
Production director VALERIA DE BERARDINIS
produced by GIULIA TORNARI for ZONA
Associated Producer  SPI CGIL NAZIONALE
With the support of  ARCI e ACTION

FESTIVAL

4° Festival Internazionale del Documentario | Visioni dal Mondo, Milano (Italia)

8a Edizione L'Italia che non si vede (Italia)