The black and white chosen for the film reflects the contrasting feelings of the photographer who took the symbolic photo of the fight against the mafia. Thirty years later, Tony Gentile tells the “war” of those years in Palermo with an exhibition. A word that «fits well, even if in these hours it might not seem like that, on that period». Tomorrow Gentile will be in Prato to inaugurate the exhibition and meet the young people as part of the Novantadue review, where we will also talk about that shot: “I was at a conference at which the two judges were present as speakers, I had to cover the event for a local newspaper. At one point Falcone approaches Borsellino, the two say something to each other and then burst into a thunderous laugh that draws our attention. It’s a fraction of a second, I jump in front of them and seize the moment ». It is only after the Capaci massacre of 23 May that the photojournalist retrieves the shot and sends it to various newspapers that archive it. But it was after the attack in via D’Amelio on July 19 that the photo was published on the front pages of many newspapers. From that day on, it will be printed on T-shirts, hung on the walls and used. Sometimes improperly.
He was 28 and was a photojournalist. What are you doing now?
“Until recently I was at Reuters and kept doing it, now I’ve stopped. Journalism and photojournalism have changed: earnings have decreased, precariousness has increased. At that time in Palermo to broadcast the shots there was the “tele-photo”, in the city we had it only in two. Today the images of the war in Ukraine are mostly those of video surveillance cameras. Thirty years ago young people could dream of becoming one of those journalists and photographers, now those prospects no longer exist “.
What is left of the young man who was shooting in Palermo?
«The passion for photography remains, communicating through the medium. I leave that aspect pure, I go around with the camera, I have fun. I like documentary, now I dedicate myself to imagining paths in that way. In this I feel like I did when I was 25 ».
One of the guests of the Prato review is Pif, who in the film The mafia kills only in summer talks about the streets of Palermo that took the names of the killed dead. Do you remember your first street?
“It wasn’t an excellent corpse, so to speak. His name was Bonsignore, he was an official of the Sicilian Region who had not been willing to be bribed. I grew up with the kind of images taken by Letizia Battaglia, which had told the previous phase of the mafia. I was waiting for that moment to come, to see if I would be able to handle it, like the doctor at the first surgery. One day the police radio said “murder” and I ran with my Vespa. The camera acted as a filter, I was able to stay focused, I had passed the exam with myself ».
Let’s talk about the photo of Falcone and Borsellino: does it accompany it for better or for worse?
“Good is the hope it arouses. On evil we could write volumes, beyond the trials and disputes for copyright. The biggest one is that these people are dead: I didn’t take a picture of the most beautiful landscape of the year, these individuals are gone. I have been in via D’Amelio and in Capaci, I have experienced deep emotions with them. What remains for me is this pain of death, which far exceeds the joy of that smile, which I understand gives hope. Unfortunately, that photograph has assumed a rhetorical value, and has also been used by those who were Mafia members. In many situations I have seen her agitated to clear her conscience. Lately, a neo-melodic mobster said in an interception to another singer: “Get a tattoo with that photo, you’ll see that you’ll be calm”. I feel violated, it is the other piece of pain ».
Has the mafia ever looked for her?
“Not officially. The mafia is not Totò Rina who comes to you with a flat cap. But I can say that I too have fallen – without now being able to reveal how – into a utilitarian use of my image. I have unwittingly entertained relationships with characters who are mafia. I discovered it backwards, like so many ».
You use the word war, with respect to fighting the mafia. Is it out of place in the hours of the Ukrainian war?
«In Prato I will meet the students and the first thing I will tell them will be: the word war these days may seem exaggerated compared to the fight against the mafia. But in Palermo there were bombings, the killed dead, the soldiers, it is the last episode after the world conflict in which the army was sent in force in a territory. These elements make us understand that in those years there was a war in Sicily. Memory is important. There must never be tiredness in repeating that war sucks, that the mafia is shit ».
5 March 2022 | 10:53
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