A young filmmaker, Ghila Valabrega, is fund-raising to finance a short movie that itself is conceived as a means to raise funding to repair the 19th century synagogue in Sabbioneta, Italy (a UNESCO world heritage site) which was badly damaged in an earthquake in 2012.
The Sabbioneta synagogue dates from 1824 — its present form is an enlargement and rebuilding of an earlier structure by a noted Lombard architect named Carlo Visioli. It has a gilded ark set behind a low, elaborate grille and flanked by Corinthian columns. The ceiling is decorated by ornate stucco work.
The film, called “Felice nel Box,” uses magic realism to tell the story of how her father, Stefano, was “haunted” after he stole a tombstone from the abandoned Jewish cemetery in Sabbioneta in the 1970s — haunted by the ghost of the man whose tombstone he stole, Felice Leon Foa’. The stone sat for 30 years in the family garage, known in Italian as a “box.”
He is trying to save at least one piece of the cemetery, as a testimony of the once flourishing Jewish community of Sabbioneta, which appears to be sinking in the sands of time. As Stefano loads the tombstone on his bike, the ghost of Felice Leon Foa’ appears. Following his tombstone, Felice hops on the bike which will bring him to Milan.
Stefano tries in vain to offer the tombstone to various Jewish organizations in Milan, in order for the cemetery to be remembered, but he ends up storing it in his car box, where it will remain for 30 long years (and with it Mr. Foa’).
In 2013 his wife Alice, and his two daughters Ghila and Joel rediscover the tombstone and they can actually see Felice, who develops a crush for Alice… Thanks to the bond that grows between them, Alice persuades Stefano to hop back on his bike to return the tombstone, but first they have to find the cemetery that Stefano visited 30 years before.
Sabbioneta was built in the 16th century by Vespasiano Gonzaga and laid out as an ideal Renaissance city. Jews lived in Sabbioneta from the town’s early days — even before it was laid out in its present form. There was a ghetto here, and the town developed into an important center of Hebrew printing. Sabbioneta (including the Synagogue) and nearby Mantova (Mantua) were included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2008.
There are only four days left for the movie’s Indiegogo campaign.
But even if this goal is not met, you can contact Valabrega to find out other ways to contribute to the film.
Sponsors of the film include the Jewish communities in Milan and Mantova, the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, and the Foundation for Jewish Cultural Heritage in Italy.
Read a lengthy interview with Valabrega in Shalom Life
Downloadable pdf brochure of the Sabbioneta synagogue
360 Degree Panoramic View of the Synagogue (plus other photos and information)