PILGRIMAGE

by Renzo Carbonera
HOW HARD IS IT AT THE BOTTOM, HOW SLIPPERY AT THE TOP.
A POSSIBLE FUTURE, NOT TOO FAR AWAY.
MARY is a young female preacher in a North American
suburb, where she built a sizable church selling hope to the
African immigrants. Pastor Mary's smooth tongue charms her
way, especially to the hardened hearts of desperate women,
and her dark allure strengthens men weakened by a foreign
and hostile environment. She dazzles her congregation with
regular miracle occurrences that loosen the purse strings and
directs the ow of money to the collection boxes. That's gospel
capitalism for people in need of a sister, a mother, a queen.
While media and politics sharply discuss how to face the
urgency of global warming and pollution, Mary is shaken from
her comfort zone by the tragic news of her older brother's
death. Despite being pregnant, she sets off on her pilgrimage
back to Africa, leaving her much elder husband back with the
sole intention of claiming her brother's body and burying him in
their home village with their mother.
Mary's brother's corpse is wrapped in mystery and the cruel
nature of his death makes her look beyond an uncaring
bureaucratic system in search of answers. She pieces together
the life of a drug-dealing brother with a personal journey that
plunges her, as a pastor and pregnant woman, beyond the
depths of a network of dealers, prostitutes, colorful
transvestites, artists and traditionalists, representatives of the
institutions living on the shadows of democracy. She emerges as
a woman in a world of men, and begins an ambiguous
relationship with a male nurse, while the shadow of her husband
claims her back through harsh phone arguments. As Mary nally
arrives to her home village, but without her brother's corpse,
words cannot ll the void of her defeat. The morning after she
oats on the calming waters, cleanses her sins away and nally
gives birth to a baby she names “Faith”. But will she settle to the
beat of the African drum, while that something she calls 'Lord' is
calling from across the vast Ocean?
WORLD OF THE STORY
The narration is set in a near future, where the planet Earth is
shaken by an escalation of the climate crisis. This is present in
the echoes of some Media and well visible in the struggles of a
North American suburb, an African bigger city and small village.
All this may be based on scienti c facts and previsions, to which
we add a ctional element which sneaks more and more into the
dialogues of the lm and, despite not real by now, it is still
scienti cally possible. It's the discovery of a planet similar to
ours and the invention of a new generation of space engines,
which may lead us there in only four years and on much bigger
ships. This leads to a debate climax, stressing through a
metaphor the rising of Mary's inner struggles, from her early
sermons to her nal crisis. Should we colonize this new planet?
What if there are beings similar to us, only at a prior development
stage? The doubts rise by these questions, but the space
exploration itself feels like a water mirage of hope only the rich
may have access to. For the poor, its' like heaven: a place of
fantasy, out of reach.
CHARACTERS
MARY
She uses strong and visual language, her mass speeches are
hypnotic, rich and enchanting. She powerfully depicts a world
full of sin and poverty of mind, a world where only who got true
faith won't fail. Mary “rides” the audience's struggles, their life
expectations. She questions people about their defeats, desires
and dreams, she sells them hope because she tells them they
have to overcome these defeats, they have to desire their
desires more than ever. But suddenly Mary becomes a more
silent character, as she moves to Africa. Language, her weapon
to bend truth and meaning as she just needs it, becomes an
enemy as before questioning other characters, she mostly
needs to question herself. The evolution of Mary will de ne the
switch from wanting to know what happened, to wanting
revenge for what happened. It's a rollercoaster trip from the top
to the bottom of human life, success and behaviour. It is as well
the re-de nition of her as a strong woman, who discovers a
world of men looking like they are weaker than she is.
THE OTHERS
Pilgrimage is a lm on people's need for faith, and on their
availability to be cheated, if they receive back hope for it. But it
also investigates a multicultural and complex background
through its characters: Christian and perhaps slightly animist,
urban and rural, de nitely stuck into gender relations.
Pilgrimage is a clash of deep and personal feelings, a search for
redemption, an alarm clock about the exploitation of faith and
hope, and by re ection also about the issues of climate change
and, ultimately, modern colonization. The plot develops
following three juxtapositions. The juxtaposition between
Mary's brother informal underground world, and a formal
bureaucratic world which doesn't allow her to bring his corpse
back home. The juxtaposition between her love affair with Tom
and her ambiguous and disturbing husband, we met in the rst
act and who is still calling on her. The juxtaposition between
humanity which needs to defend itself from a planet becoming
hostile, and a planet which needs to defend itself from a
humanity destroying it.
REFERENCE FILMS
RENZO CARBONERA
Born in 1980, Italian and German nationality, directed 9 TV
documentaries for the main European broadcasters. His rst
ction short lm, Hemingway's Pen, premiered at the Venice
Film Festival and was screened and awarded in more than 30
international lm festivals. Resina, his rst feature lm,
premiered at the Montreal WFF in 2017, has been screened and
awarded in more than 30 international lm festivals, distributed
in 20 Countries by Wide Management including Italy, US,
France, Germany, China, UK, Australia, Canada and South Korea.
It was nominated at the Italian Golden Globes in 2019 and
ranked 6th best lm for 2018 by FICE (Federazione Italiana
Cinema d'Essai-the Italian Art House Theatres and Cinemas
Association). He is currently in production on a hybrid between
documentary and science ction lm, Pluto, which will as well
be a videogame available for all major platforms.
BRIDGET PICKERING
She is the South African co-producer on Hotel Rwanda, the Terry
George Oscar-nominated feature lm. She started her career as
a Casting Associate with Bonnie Timmermann at Universal
Pictures on lms such as The Last of the Mohicans and
Glengarry Glen Ross. She co-produced the feature lm Taste of
Rain directed by Richard Pakleppa, which premiered at the
Durban International Film Festival and the Chemo Club, a
comedy heist lm. In 2017, she co-produced a hybrid between
documentary and animation, Lyana, which won the Best
Documentary Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival and at the
Durban International Film Festival. She has produced eleven
television drama series for national broadcaster SABC and
commercial broadcaster ETV. She is currently in production on
her next feature, The Night Outside, a co-production with
Australia and Germany.
 renzocarbonera@gmail.com bridget@ reworxmedia.co.za
CONTACT +39.349.6050598 +27 (72) 8971898
www.renzocarbonera.com www. reworxmedia.co.za