Due to the 24-hour strike by Alitalia staff on 05 April the author cannot make it to Perugia in time hence this session has been cancelled. Pietro Bartolo will however participate in the following session on Thursday 06 April.
Pietro Bartolo is a doctor who for over twenty five years has worked on the small Italian island of Lampedusa, located between Sicily and North Africa, welcoming and caring for the migrants who arrive there. The book Lacrime di sale (in translation Tears of salt) tells his story: the story of a scrawny and shy boy, raised in a family of fishermen, who has fought hard to change the migrants’ destiny and that of his island.
Tears of salt is a punch in the stomach, it recounts things that no newspaper article or TV report can ever convey, and it nails your conscience to the wall. Bartolo's sense of helplessness (sometimes), his anger (frequent) and his bewilderment are so authentic that they become yours. So too his joy and wonder when faced with the invincible force of life.
A great example of courage and civic engagement. An extraordinary warning against the indifference of those who choose not to see.
Pietro Bartolo is also one of the protagonists of Gianfranco Rosi's documentary film Fuocammare, shot on the island of Lampedusa. The film won the Golden Bear at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival and was nominated for a 2017 Oscar for best documentary.