FEDRA

Phaedra

Italia. 2006. Color. 30 min. Ficción. .
  • Film Director: Salvo Bitonti.
  • Scriptwriter: Salvo Bitonti.
  • Producer: Salvo Bitonti.
In an age without time in the wild and sunny island of Stromboli, Phaedra, in her house, is overwhelmed from the memories. She remembers the day of her arrival and then the wedding with Theseus, the dances and the look of the beautiful Ippolitus, son that Theseus had from a previous wedding. The young man is given over to the hunting in the island and the fight with his young friends. Phaedra falls in love with this boy that could be her son. She knows the absurdity of this impetuous feeling but cannot resist to it. Only moment of relief when she goes around in the island searching an answer to her own inquietude. She swims in the sea. The young Ippolitus, voted to chastity, does not yield to the love of Phaedra. Phaedra, whose torment is symbolized by the landscape of the island itself, with its volcanic lava river, with its heated sunsets and its dark beaches, meditates a revenge. She will let the current of the sea take her but, before she has left writing; she accuses the stepson to have try to rapt her.

Salvo Bitonti
Salvo was born in Siracuse in 1961. Director, playwright and professor of Theatre and Film Direction at the Fine Arts Academy 'Albertina' in Turin. Graduated in Greek Drama at Bologna University. He directed over forty plays in the most important theatre in Italy and works about the relationship between cinema and theatre, creating performances caracterized by the use of multimediality on stage. He writes articles on theatre and cinema in Italian rewiews such as Primafila and Parol. 'Phaedra' is his first short film.