by Giuseppe Leonetti
Italia-Germania-Croazia-Belgio, 2023
In progress
Stefilm International (Torino)
In the summer of 1924, Italian newspapers, next to the alarming news on the economic crisis, the parliamentary paralysis and the political violence, reported the account of the adventures of an unusual benefactor: Prince White Elk, rich Indian chief who was visiting Italy.
This elegant savage wears the black shirt and does the roman salute. At every stage of his tour he greets the crowd with handfuls of money and declares himself an admirer of fascism. The Italians, who are hungry and scared, see a hope in him. The fascists, an exotic sponsor. The former flood him with letters of requests, the latter with honors.
But both don't hesitate to repudiate him, when they begin suspecting that behind that indian costume there could be an impostor.
Laplante's story is a clear epitome of the relationship which occurs between mass and power: a mysterious relationship that in Italy has always had avant-garde implications.
“White Elk” is an opportunity to address these issues from a completely new perspective and to reinterpret our recent past - and our present - from an innovative point of view. An original angle, whose strength is made even more evident by the recent discovery of stock material, now stored in the Anthropological Criminology Museum "Cesare Lombroso" of Turin.
The story of “White Elk”, though it has had its pitch in Turin, it's a story of international interest and appeal. It is also linked to scenarios, themes and personalities which our city and our country are closely connected to: the adventures imagined by Salgari, the silent movies, Lombroso, Massimo Mila, the Einaudi publishing house.
Flylab Creative Media (Motion Graphic)