My room

Staying in life – this is a simple, beautiful idea that could well serve as a model for the “City of the Sun”, a foundation based in Perugia that develops projects for mentally disabled people, focusing on enabling them to live in their own homes. Under the umbrella of “La città del sole”, specially targeted communities are formed where people with and without disabilities learn to live together, rent-free and under the supervision of educational and clinical staff.  

For screenwriter Stefano Rulli, who established the foundation out of a need within his own family, home is a fundamental building block of every person’s identity. It is the starting point for the questions: Who am I? Where am I? Who am I with? These issues are even more important than work. The way out of isolation succeeds when you open the door and know where you are able to go. Doors often remain shut because there is no one on the other side. Rulli’s son Matteo has been living in one of these residential units for years, practicing independence and respecting other people’s boundaries. But he still hangs the shower head too high.  

With cameraman Joerg Burger, Monika Stuhl accompanies the protagonists in their everyday lives. Her calm presence can also be felt outside of the conversations and becomes part of the interactions. Frictions are not omitted, but rather conveyed subtly, below the surface. Protest is manifested in ostentatious whistling or in Matteo’s unwillingness to continue wearing a microphone.  

Since we are in Italy, cooking together naturally occupies a central anchoring point which sets the pace of everyday life in work, study and leisure. A quiet, gentle fellow writes short stories for the foundation’s online newspaper. A zookeeper can talk to the animals; because he has trouble finding work and friends, by talking to the animals and having them help him, he manages to solve his problems. Or just to stay in life. (Regina Schlagnitweit)

Translation: John Wojtowicz