Directors (the great ones who made Italian film history), politicians, entertainment industry folks and regular citizens gathered to pay homage to Gillo Pontecorvo and embrace his relatives in the funeral chamber set up in the Campidoglio. First among them was President Giorgio Napolitano, who paid his respects to the director in private. Then, slowly, others entered: friends and strangers who loved the man for his work.

“He made few films” said Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, “but it matters little how few films one makes, books one writes or paintings one paints. Pontecorvo made film history with five films”. Other politicians present included Vice-Premier Massimo D’Alema and Minister of Culture Francesco Rutelli, the latter who stated that there was no dissonance between Pontecorvo’s blue eyes, his smile, his moral rigour and his political and social commitment.

Later speakers included Piero Fassino (DS Party Secretary) and Gianni Borgna (Cultural Councillor), who opened the event during which Pontecorvo was often remembered through moments of his youth, by director Citto Maselli, for example, who said he first met the director in October of 1945, when Italy had just been liberated and fighter Gillo Pontecorvo’s actions were renowned in Partisan circles. “We were excited over his arrival. At the end of the party, I started chatting with him, I told him I admired Fred Astaire and he, by way of an answer, started tap dancing on the party stage. He opened our minds with that gesture. From that day, we faced political debates without forgetting the cheerfulness he’d given us”, said Maselli.

Others who came to pay their respects included directors Ettore Scola, Mario Monicelli, Marco Bellocchio, Lina Wertmuller, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani and Giuliano Montaldo; actors Alessandro Haber and Paolo Villaggio; as well as Irene Bignardi of Filmitalia, who wrote a biography of Pontecorvo and said he was “a working class aristocrat, aristocratic in his manners and tastes, working class because he thought of life as a gift and was happy for every small thing”.

The RomeFilmFest was represented by two of its directors, Giorgio Gosetti and Mario Sesti. Lastly, Veltroni announced that the festival would pay tribute to Pontecorvo with an already scheduled screening The Battle of Algiers, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of its Golden Lion triumph. The film is considered to be Pontecorvo’s masterpiece and is loved by all, so much so that the Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika was also among the mourners.