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Contribution short abstract:

“Flegrea – a future for Bagnoli” is a documentary dedicated to the Neapolitan district of Bagnoli, investigating the influence of the history of pollution and exploitation suffered by the district on the new generations. The documentary is mainly realized by activists of the local social movements.

Contribution long abstract:

Bagnoli, a district in the western periphery of Naples, still suffers from the environmental impacts caused by the Italsider steel industry, closed since 1992, and by the high unemployment rates caused by the shutdown. A strong social movement emerged in the district during the last decade advocating for environmental cleanup, democratization of local politics and defense of the commons. Like the whole Southern Italy, Bagnoli has been historically portrayed as a backward territory, which could only be modernized by external interventions. Such depictions supported both the application of special laws for its industrialization and the appointment of unaccountable state commissioners to carry out the environmental cleanup. In response to the hegemony of such derogatory external narratives, narrating the district’s history from within acquires a particular political value. We present the example of "Flegrea – A future for Bagnoli", a documentary mainly conceived and directed by people involved in the social movements of Naples. The film explores the relationship between young Bagnoli residents and the abandoned steel industry, revealing the profound impact of this polluted site on the lives of the new generations. The film is played by the inhabitants themselves and, throughout the documentary, the young protagonists engage in discussions with local collectives and grassroots organizations, which collaborated in the film's production. The documentary successfully presents a backgrounded narrative of Naples—a story of marginalization but also resistance and hope, that the inhabitants of Bagnoli can feel as their own.