Genoa G8, Friday July 20, 2001
Piazza Manin
Morning of July 20.
Several groups organized authorized demonstrations in different parts of the city, close to the so-called “red zone,” the secured area where the G8 meetings were taking place.
In Piazza Manin, the Lilliput Network, Rete Contro il G8, Legambiente, and the World March of Women gathered for a march and peaceful protest actions. The march moved toward the red zone and ended with a sit-in in front of one of its access points in Piazza Corvetto.
Franca Rame and Don Gallo were present at the sit-in held in front of the red zone checkpoint.
Several groups organized authorized demonstrations in different parts of the city, close to the so-called “red zone,” the secured area where the G8 meetings were taking place.
In Piazza Manin, the Lilliput Network, Rete Contro il G8, Legambiente, and the World March of Women gathered for a march and peaceful protest actions. The march moved toward the red zone and ended with a sit-in in front of one of its access points in Piazza Corvetto.
Franca Rame and Don Gallo were present at the sit-in held in front of the red zone checkpoint.
Piazza Manin, Nonviolent Actions
File: ADG82001/0720-0001A
Footage Description:
From: 01.00.00.00
Day of nonviolent direct actions. Preparations in Piazza Manin (pacifist area, thematic square, Lilliput Network). Performance on Italian aircraft carriers and naval fleets. Mock-ups and panels with models of NATO weapons. People dancing. A young man distributes wine from a demijohn.
From: 01.02.30.00
Lilliput Network participants. Lilliput Network poster. Informational signs on banks and weapons.
From: 01.03.50.00
Young women paint each other’s hands white and paint their faces. A banner raised by balloons.
From: 01.09.10.00
Legambiente banner. Colored balloons in the street. Banner preparation. “No barriers for dreams.”
From: 01.12.30.00
Interview with a young woman dressed as a Beagle Boy about their direct action. She shows a fake dollar bill with the Beagle Boys and the text: “The United States of the G8. We steal from the poor to give to the rich.” People sitting in the street waiting for the march to begin.
From: 01.16.50.00
Caricature poster: Berlusconi on a dollar-shaped snake with the words “I am the chosen one.” Leaflet on McPanino about market power and exploitation of labor and resources. Large underwear-shaped banner. Lilliput Network activists paint their hands white.
File: ADG82001/0720-0001A
Footage Description:
From: 01.00.00.00
Day of nonviolent direct actions. Preparations in Piazza Manin (pacifist area, thematic square, Lilliput Network). Performance on Italian aircraft carriers and naval fleets. Mock-ups and panels with models of NATO weapons. People dancing. A young man distributes wine from a demijohn.
From: 01.02.30.00
Lilliput Network participants. Lilliput Network poster. Informational signs on banks and weapons.
From: 01.03.50.00
Young women paint each other’s hands white and paint their faces. A banner raised by balloons.
From: 01.09.10.00
Legambiente banner. Colored balloons in the street. Banner preparation. “No barriers for dreams.”
From: 01.12.30.00
Interview with a young woman dressed as a Beagle Boy about their direct action. She shows a fake dollar bill with the Beagle Boys and the text: “The United States of the G8. We steal from the poor to give to the rich.” People sitting in the street waiting for the march to begin.
From: 01.16.50.00
Caricature poster: Berlusconi on a dollar-shaped snake with the words “I am the chosen one.” Leaflet on McPanino about market power and exploitation of labor and resources. Large underwear-shaped banner. Lilliput Network activists paint their hands white.
March in Front of the Red Zone
File: ADG82001/0720-0001B
Description of footage
From: 01.20.30.00
Women’s ritual: women stand in a circle holding hands and singing, “We are the moon that moves the tides, we will change the world with our ideas.” Close-ups and wide shots of women, girls, and children holding hands.
From: 01.25.30.00
Women dancing and playing music. They prepare a “potion” in a pot and make the feminist sign. A young woman blows soap bubbles.
File: ADG82001/0720-0001B
Description of footage
From: 01.20.30.00
Women’s ritual: women stand in a circle holding hands and singing, “We are the moon that moves the tides, we will change the world with our ideas.” Close-ups and wide shots of women, girls, and children holding hands.
From: 01.25.30.00
Women dancing and playing music. They prepare a “potion” in a pot and make the feminist sign. A young woman blows soap bubbles.
Speeches in Front of the Red Zone by Don Gallo and Franca Rame*
File: ADG82001/0720-0001C
Description of footage
From: 01.34.55.00
March with raised white hands. The march moves toward the red zone. Another nonviolent direct action: young people roll on the ground while others push them with brooms. Banners: “The world is not your Risk game or your Monopoly,” “Medicines to cure, not to enrich.” Long line of people.
From: 01.44.00.00
People sitting in front of the police. Riot police lined up.
From: 01.45.00.00
Ermete Realacci, president of Legambiente, speaks with the police and asks permission to reach the metal fence of the red zone.
From: 01.47.00.00
Franca Rame urges the demonstrators through a megaphone to sit down. Don Gallo stands next to her. Franca Rame speaks to the demonstrators. A masked young man speaks with a police officer.
From: 01.52.40.00
Single-file line of people moving toward the metal fence. Actions in front of the fence: people attach notes, underwear, and posters; hands beat against the fence. Banners: “8 bastards in a cage,” “The wall of shame.” Slogan: “We are the world and you are the ghetto.” Performance against capitalism. A police officer tells the demonstrators to move back. Close-ups of police officers with helmets, scarves over their mouths, and shields.
From: 02.08.48.00
The crowd presses toward the fence. A young man holding a bouquet of flowers climbs to the top of the fence. A young woman also climbs up and is sprayed with a water cannon.
-----
* Franca Rame (1929–2013) was an Italian actress, playwright, and political activist.
She was a major figure in Italian theater and public life, known for her work on social justice, women’s rights, and anti-authoritarian politics.
Internationally, she is often identified in connection with her husband, playwright Dario Fo, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997, although Rame was also an important author and performer in her own right.
File: ADG82001/0720-0001C
Description of footage
From: 01.34.55.00
March with raised white hands. The march moves toward the red zone. Another nonviolent direct action: young people roll on the ground while others push them with brooms. Banners: “The world is not your Risk game or your Monopoly,” “Medicines to cure, not to enrich.” Long line of people.
From: 01.44.00.00
People sitting in front of the police. Riot police lined up.
From: 01.45.00.00
Ermete Realacci, president of Legambiente, speaks with the police and asks permission to reach the metal fence of the red zone.
From: 01.47.00.00
Franca Rame urges the demonstrators through a megaphone to sit down. Don Gallo stands next to her. Franca Rame speaks to the demonstrators. A masked young man speaks with a police officer.
From: 01.52.40.00
Single-file line of people moving toward the metal fence. Actions in front of the fence: people attach notes, underwear, and posters; hands beat against the fence. Banners: “8 bastards in a cage,” “The wall of shame.” Slogan: “We are the world and you are the ghetto.” Performance against capitalism. A police officer tells the demonstrators to move back. Close-ups of police officers with helmets, scarves over their mouths, and shields.
From: 02.08.48.00
The crowd presses toward the fence. A young man holding a bouquet of flowers climbs to the top of the fence. A young woman also climbs up and is sprayed with a water cannon.
-----
* Franca Rame (1929–2013) was an Italian actress, playwright, and political activist.
She was a major figure in Italian theater and public life, known for her work on social justice, women’s rights, and anti-authoritarian politics.
Internationally, she is often identified in connection with her husband, playwright Dario Fo, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997, although Rame was also an important author and performer in her own right.