ROLLAT UND BAJAZZO
ROLLAT AND BAJAZZO
Josef Schwellensattl / Germany / 2016 / 45 min / Colour
Italian premiere
The last three Sundays before Lent are the most important of Plodar Vosenocht, the carnival in Sappada, a German linguistic island in the Veneto, locally called Plodn. These are the Sundays of the Beggars, Paesans and Gentlemen. The most popular mask is that of Rollat, a personage dressed entirely in fur. He holds a broom and attached to his behind are the typical iron bells that clang with every step. The families of Sappada own more than 400 masks carved from wood, about forty of which date to the nineteenth century, while two others are from the eighteenth. During these noisy and lively Sundays, every inhabitant who participates in the carnival hides completely under his costume and mask; so disguised, he is free to joke around and play with his fellow townsfolk.
Josef Schwellensattl
Josef Schwellensattl was born in the Val d’Ultimo in 1954. After receiving a diploma at the Art School of Ortisei, he moved to Munich where he attended the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen. Since 1981, he has worked as an author and director for the Bayerisches Fernsehen. His documentary, Das Kalb in der Kuh und das Korn in der Kist' (2007), won the Lessinia d'Argento at the XIII Film Festival della Lessinia.
Credits
Subject Josef SchwellensattlScreenplay Josef SchwellensattlCinematography Rupert HeilgemeirSound Claus AdamEditing Silvia NawrotProducer Bayerisches FernsehenProduction company Bayerisches Fernsehen