Cinematic style for Italian TV drama

Marcinelle is a two-part drama, made for Italian TV, based on the disaster in the small Belgian mining town of the same name

	Lighting techniques move at the same pace as the story.

In August 1956, in the small Belgian mining town of Marcinelle, 262 miners died in a fire at the coalface. 136 of the dead were Italian. The Italian miners were there as the result of an agreement between Italy and Belgium. Italy suffered from high unemployment and a shortage of coal. Belgium had mineral rich undeveloped coalfields, but not enough labour. The deal was Coal for Labour: Labour for Coal.

The disaster had a huge human impact on communities in both countries.

Marcinelle is a two-part drama, made for Italian TV, based on the disaster. The Frazzi brothers directed It. Director of Photography Fabio Zamarion said, “The two Frazzi brothers are the most remarkable people in television. Their style of filming is more cinematic than televisual. I’m talking about cutting while you’re still shooting, and filming in the correct chronological sequence. Their approach helps the directors and actors develop the story and it also helps us cinematographers achieve better photographic consistency.