Les élections en Italie d'avril 2006 ont vu le retour de la gauche au pouvoir. Portraits et témoignages d'une jeunesse engagée.
Francesco and Lisa read Brecht together: 'Fear and Misery of the Third Reich'. April 7th 2006, Piazza de Venezia, Rome, Italy.
RID0088713x © David Richard
Naples: during Silvio Berlusconi's final legislative election campaign rally before the vote.
RID0088642x © David Richard
Elena, 29, lives in Rome. She works in a bar for 600 euros, in spite of 5 years of study after high school.
RID0088652x © David Richard
Naples: during Silvio Berlusconi's final legislative election campaign rally before the vote.
RID0088621 © David Richard
Tana de Zuleta, Italian ecological MP. Rome, Italy, 2006.
RID0088682x © David Richard
Campaigners with the colours of the extreme right, during the last rally of Silvio Berlusconi's legislative election campaign before the vote. Naples, Italy, April 2006.
RID0088627x © David Richard
Luigi, 19, studies art and philosophy in Rome. He doesn't like politics, he prefers art. He would like to become a stage manager. He claims that he won't vote, then confides that he has found a worthy representative in the form of Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of Duce (Benito Mussolini).
RID0088688x © David Richard
Alessandro, a specialist in political marketing sports a t-shirt from the failed 2001 campaign. It's a way of proving, when everyone else has thrown out their t-shirts, that he is still a believer. On the night of the election results, at the HQ of 'La Marguerite' Party, Rome, April 2006.
RID0088658x © David Richard
'L'Unione' campaigners watch the first estimations at party headquarters in the centre of Rome, at around 3pm.
RID0088611x © David Richard
Goods on display. Rome, April 2006.
RID0088678x © David Richard
Nicky, 20, lived for 10 years in the United States. He came back to finish his studies and support the left-wing coalition. For him: 'If Berlusconi wins, it will only prove that he abused his power in parliament by passing an electoral law to his advantage for the legislative elections". April 9th 2006, in front of the HQ of the 'Olive Tree' coalition. Piazza Apostoli, Rome, Italy.
RID0088670 © David Richard
At Berlusconi's HQ: waiting in uncertainty. Rome, April 15th 2006.
RID0088665 © David Richard
Claudia, 22, studies linguistic and cultural mediation. During the elections, she works in a polling booth. She says she's disappointed in Italians: 'I feel bad about these results', she complains, 'I thought the difference would be greater. Too many people voted for Forza Italia'. She believes, in their defense, that there is a real lack of information. With friends, she discusses politics in a forum created by a friend: politczone.it. Rome, Italy, April 2006.
RID0088718x © David Richard
Voting day in the HQ of 'Rose in the Fist' (Rosa nel Pugno, RnP), a radical left-wing party. Rome, Italy, April 2006.
RID0088613 © David Richard
Giordano, 33, is an announcer on 'Onda Rossa' - an independent radio station which is supposedly communist, although Giordano isn't. His grandfather fought Mussolini, and worked in social centres in 1991, during the great political and legal shake down that imprisoned most of the country's leaders for corruption. Rome, Italy, April 2006.
RID0088696 © David Richard
On election night, Communist activists attempt to infiltrate their banner during a live broadcast on a channel belonging to Berlusconi's corporation. Rome, Italy, April 9th 2006.
RID0088673x © David Richard
Daniele de Michele alias Donpasta.selecter is a DJ. But not just a DJ. At 32 years of age, his book 'Found Sound System' sold over 5 000 copies. During the day, he works as a consultant in the management of economic programs for the European Union. He has no social benefits, and only short to mid-term contracts. Berlusconi aggravated this tendency with the Lege Biagi law.
RID0088692 © David Richard
Illustration of the 'Panini theory', which bears witness to Berlusconi's media muscle. In electoral postering, the norm is Berlusconi, Prody, Berlusconi... and it's no different on television. His media harrassment eventually comes unstuck, due to its weight. Rome, Italy, April 10th 2006.
RID0088636x © David Richard
Romans cram together in front of the giant screen in the Piazza de Apostoli, not far from the headquarters of the left-wing coalition, led by Romano Prodi. The possibility of a victory is starting to peek through. Rome, Italy, April 10th 2006.
RID0088630 © David Richard
Laura, a political science student, claims to be independent. She has never belonged to any political party but is constantly thinking and acting politically. For her, Berlusconi is paternalist and populist. Above all, she is anti homo-economicus.
RID0088647 © David Richard
Left-wing supporters. At 3am, the vote turns in favour of Romano Prodi. Rome, April 10th 2006.
RID0088639x © David Richard
Elisa, 18: 'In my opinion, the worst thing that Bersculoni did was to base his education reforms on the American system. These reforms apply from primary school to university. Companies are able to put pressure on the transmission of knowledge. To such an extent that general knowledge is no longer important, nor history, and so on.' Elisa is exalted, tonight, the left won. April 10th 2006, 4am, Place de Venise, Rome, Italy.
RID0088700 © David Richard
Rome on election night. Italy, April 9th 2006.
RID0088722x © David Richard
Two lovers. Piazza de Popolo, Rome, Italy, April 2006.
RID0088706x © David Richard