The Gragnano pasta rows, the mountain vines in Trentino, the high technology of startup incubators and factories. In the documentary The Human Factor, the spirit of work, Milanese director Giacomo Gatti goes on a journey into the excellence of Italian work. Fifteen different stories arranged by sector and territory, but united by an invisible thread: responsibility. All of them represent a different interpretation of a vision for a company that is not just about profit, but also development, culture and creativity. Gatti, through the language of filmmaking, shows the hands, the eyes and the passion behind these companies. The “human factor”.
The film is produced by Inaz – Osservatorio Imprese Lavoro, in collaboration with the Fondazione Ente dello Spettacolo, the Rome Film Festival and the Cinema Foundation for Rome, under the patronage of the National Federation of Knights of Labor. Find the trailer here.
It’s the Italian stories that are never in the spotlight, but today more than ever it is necessary to enhance them
In the film, the work is also told from an emotional point of view, the beauty of working that is often forgotten: some say that they put a part of themselves in every tractor they work on, those who create a circular economy by recovering networks from fishing, those who have bet on the hands of farmers to revive the agricultural sector. And again: some describe the year of work behind the comics on newsstands every week; some develop artificial limbs that have a sense of touch; visionaries turn a wool mill into a bank; some every year employs twenty deserving young people with permanent contracts, even if they do not need to expand their workforce. And finally there is Don Antonio Loffredo, who in the Rione Sanità in Naples reopened the old abandoned Catacombs, attracting one hundred thousand visitors and thus giving an answer to the unemployed young people in the neighborhood.
«These are Italian stories that are never in the spotlight, but today more than ever it is necessary to enhance them», explains Linda Gilli, president and CEO of Inaz.
They are the hands and brains of Italian companies and their stories deserve to be told through the language of film-making
«At a time when finance and new technologies seem to undermine the human factor from the center of the economy, our belief is that there are men and women capable of making a difference» says director Giacomo Gatti. «They are the hands and brains of Italian companies and their stories deserve to be told through the language of filmmaking».
Through the testimony of the protagonists, their passion for work emerges from the film. A journey to discover the often hidden beauty of a country, Italy, “that every day innovates, finds a new synthesis with tradition, offers jobs and growth, knows how to respect and promote the environment, makes young people protagonists”, comments Don Davide Milani, president of the Fondazione Ente dello Spettacolo. «An exciting film that shows the stories of those who consider work not as a cult but as a culture, the commitment of entrepreneurs who do not reduce work to procuring wealth but who consider it as a way to rebuild communities, give dignity, offer future to the country».