The tent in the square, 1971 (16mm positive, scan 2K/sound)
Location: Rome, Italy
Creator: Gian Maria Volonté
The film tells the struggle of workers and workers of five Italian factories, Cagli, Coca Cola, Filodont, Luciani and Metalfer.
It is a set of interviews in which workers denounce the inconvenience and difficulties of living without salary and make their proposals to get out of the crisis and for change.
The workers of the occupied factories decide to raise a tent in the Spanish Steps to propagate their struggle but the permission, granted by the City Council, is denied by the Public Security Commissioner. The result is a long negotiation between the workers and the Commissariat. The workers explain the propaganda activity in the busy Coca Cola screen printing laboratory, where posters, brochures, etc. are printed. The wives of the workers set up a very active struggle committee, which also organizes a kindergarten at the factory. The second roller records the chronicle of the struggle for raising the tent in Piazza di Spagna. There are clashes with the police, who charge and use the batons whenever the workers try to set up the tent. Despite the wounded and the bruised, the workers do not give themselves for losers, until they get what they ask: “A curtain in the living room of Rome to remind citizens - especially of the most affluent classes - who In Rome, during the Christmas holidays, there are workers without salary.” In the end, the workers get what they ask for and the tent is finally raised between applause and general satisfaction.
01. Overlay the words “The Tent in the Square”. CM of a group of protesters intent on listening to a speaker who speaks. Detail of an inscription on the gate of a “Busy Factory” factory. CM of a group of women who occupied certain departments. Some of them speak to the MDP. Alternately workers tell other experiences
02. Play the mermaid typical of the workers' lunch break. Some images of the occupied factories alternate with the stories of the workers
03. Piazza di Spagna. Prosecutor's PP discussing with the workers, forbidding them from setting up the protest tent. PP of some police officers on the margins of protest. The voices off of the discussion are followed by various images of the event in the square
04. Images of aligned cops ready for any intervention
05. Sheet with the inscription “In the hours required for demonstrations and protests all workers must be available for the fight. Employment is a political commitment.” PP of a worker who speaks to the MDP. A group of workers sing a song. There are other interventions by workers. The coke logo turned into a symbol of protest
06. Some women tell the MDP about the birth of the Women's Factory Employment Committee. Various images of the workers who occupied the factory
07. Some workers and workers tell how ordinary people reacted to their strikes
08. Workers ring empty bells and tin barrels in protest. “Solidarity for Busy Factories” sign. Pictures of some workers who occupied the factories. Various interventions by the workers who speak at the MDP
09. PP of a RAI operator whose questions are asked. Occupant Crowd Overview
10. Cops are watching the demonstration. Some workers sit on the ground in a protest sit-in
11. The protesters try to set up the protest tent. Clashes between demonstrators and workers. The cops use batons against the workers. A man falls to the ground unconscious after the clashes with the police
12. Some workers try to assemble the tent again. A man talks to the megaphone and screams out protest slogan
13. Several interventions of the workers follow one another
14. A roundup of the workers who listen very carefully to the interventions of their comrades
15. CM of the protesters. A group of occupied women sing slogans “They beat us up, they bind us to work and they call this freedom,” “The struggle is hard without fear,” “We are increasingly pissed off against the government of the masters.” Men violently play tin barrels. In front of women, a host of cops
16. The workers are trying to set up the tent again. The cops clear the protesters again with batons. The clashes become much harder and more violent
17. Workers who mount the tent in Piazza di Spagna. An off voice tells how they managed to win permission. People applaud the business. The inscription 'Fine' appears