Piazza delle cinque lune

Renzo Martinelli is a foreign language graduate who has specialized in cinematography at the Scuola Superiore di Comunicazioni Sociali of Università Cattolica.
In the 70’s he set up a production company and began working as a film director for Italian State Television, covering current affairs issues. In the same period he was also shooting music videos for celebrated artists (Alice, Battiato, Van Halen, Lucio Dalla, Umberto Tozzi, Pino Daniele, Alan Parson, Rockets). At the end of the 80’s he was very much involved with advertising, becoming one of the best-known directors in Italy, creating commercials for Carrera Jeans, Ballantine’s, Sony, Opel Vectra, Dreher beer, Montenegro liquor, Aspirina and ENI, and also for “Pubblicità Progresso” (Goverment body producing commercials on social and health issues)
Both as a director and producer, he has made more than 100 documentaries, many of them with a strong artistic content, such as Giulio Romano (on the construction of Palazzo Tè in Mantua), La Reggia dei Gonzaga, Il Duomo di Milano, to mention just a few.
He debuted in cinema in 1993 with Sarahsarà, the true story of a coloured girl who, despite being physically handicapped is an extraordinary swimmer. Her dream is to take part in the Capri-Napoli competition, the most exhausting long-distance swimming race in the world. In 1997 he films Porzus, the story of 1945 massacre among fellow-partisans in Italy . The film was hailed as one of the most interesting movies of the year at Venice Film Festival. In 2001 Martinelli realizes both as director and producer Vajont, recalling the tragic collapse of the dam that on 9 October 1963 killed 2000 people.
Vajont was awarded the “Grolla d’Oro” by the audience at Saint Vincent. It has awarded also the “David di Donatello” by Italian schools and the “Globo d’Oro” by the foreign press for best direction, and the Nastro d’Argento plus the “Ciak d’Oro” went to Leo Gullotta as best supporting actor.
Vajont also grossed about 465 million euro, coming third absolute at the box office in Italy for 2001.

On the eve of his retirement judge Saracini is approached by a stranger who tells him he was a member of the red brigades of via Fani (the street in Rome where Christian Democrat statesman Aldo Moro was kidnapped in 1978). The stranger gives him a Super8 film, that shows the images (partly already well-known) of Moro’s kidnapping and of the massacre of his escort, shot from above. That very night the stranger contacts the judge again: he knows where the original copy of Moro’s memories are kept and makes the judge a proposal: he will give him Moro’s memories but in exchange for that the judge will have to thoroughly investigate the case again.