Carta da Luigi.

Ciao Nathalie sono Luigi da Verona Italia ti spiego quanto è sucesso il
tutto è iniziato
Che la Maria Cristina per colpa de Ipofesi che sembrava che ci fosse
un tumore benigno
così ogni tanto andava in crisi e chiamava le Forse del Ordine per
chiedere aiuto che è
 iniziato il 8 Gennaio 2011 è teminato il 28 Febbraio 2012 così le
Forse del'Ordine hanno
mandato un verbale al tribunale dei Minori di Venezia i guidici hanno
deciso di toglierci
i figli per un periodo sembra provissorio dal 3 Aprile al 30
Settembre 2012 così è stato
e l'anno affidati ha case famiglia però i bimbi l'anno divisi così
Vittoria è nel basso Veronese
il paese è Cerea invece Carmen e Riccardo sono ha Vicenza in un
Villaggio per bimbi.
I bimbi sono andati ha scuola ha prenderli il giorno 3 Aprile alle
ore 11,00 così
Le Assistenti Sociali ci hanno convocato nel loro Ufficio per dire
che hanno ricevuto un
Ordine del Tribunale che ci saranno tolto i bimbi.
Così la Maria Cristina è andata ancora più in crisi si ammalava
sempre di più fino ha quando è
iniziato il mese di giugno peggiorava settimana per settimana
aumentavano i dolori così
la gamba desta non la muoveve più dai forti dolori,tra dal dispiacere
dei bimbi problemi di
cuore e per finire ha fatto un blocco renale.

SEDIMIDE the tablets

Maria Cristina shows us the box of tablets her mother took containing Thalidomide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ_hNLNmqoo&list=UUcVL0C_Be0PWs0H8yYZ4lDw

Rock n' Roll Robot

Maria Cristina singing along in the car on a day out with her husband and children.
To watch her singing along click link below:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp5Hon0AE3M&list=UUcVL0C_Be0PWs0H8yYZ4lDw

Maria Cristina talks about when she first became a mother

Maria Cristina talks about when she first became a mother and shows us photos of her eldest daughter Vittoria when she was a baby.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBajR3xTyjg&list=UUcVL0C_Be0PWs0H8yYZ4lDw

My stay in Verona with the Lentini family

It makes me very sad and angry when I remember the words that Luigi (Maria Cristina's husband) told me. That he thought that his wife had died of a broken heart, yes alright she was a very ill lady, but the peak of the iceberg was when she asked for help they thought helping was removing her children when they could have sent some home help a few hours a day. Surely it's cheaper than up- keeping 3 children in homes/orphanages or whatever they are called nowadays. And I just simply cannot understand why Luigi still two years after Maria Cristina's death, has not got his children back. It's outrageous. Explain to me why a man who looked after a disable wife and 3 children and coped pretty well when he took a year off work, but  he was obliged to go back to work and they couldn't afford paid help so they asked for home help. Look what it got them. It's disgraceful. This is why I hope that with my fly on the wall documentation of the family life, people will be able to see what happy, serene children they were when they were with their parents. I truly hope somehow this will help them be reunited. But no one will give them back those stolen 2 years of a father without his children and children without their parents.
The thing that makes my blood boil even more is how the authorities  have split the siblings. Ricardo and Carmen are together and Vittoria is somewhere else. Why do they do that??? Why ?

Watch the short video below of my stay with the Lentini family in Verona back in 2009:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxF4v7eL10c&list=UUcVL0C_Be0PWs0H8yYZ4lDw

Homage to Maria Cristina

I first heard Maria Cristina's story at the Thalidomide conference held in Padova in 2009. Both Maria Cristina and her mother told their moving story and I was outraged by the fact that this family had had to undergo not only such pain but with no financial support. I got talking to them, we exchanged our contact details and I later got in touch with them to see if I could film their story. They kindly invited me to go and stay with them during their summer holidays in Jesolo. Jesolo gives its name to a lagoon (22 km2) on the Adriatic Sea.  I accepted their offer and went and stayed with them in their hotel.  You can talk about fly on the wall documentary! Well I was a real fly as they invited to stay in their family bedroom: Maria Cristina, Luigi her husband, Vittoria, Carmen, Ricardo,  the hamster and I. A real experience. 
A few months later I went back and stayed with the Lentini's in their family home in Verona for a week and tried to document as much about their life as possible. 
Maria Cristina has since passed away and Luigi has been split up from his children. I just don't understand how they have done that to such a kind, generous man. 

In the video below you can watch  my day out with Maria Cristina and Luigi. We drove to a village outside of Verona to visit Maria Cristina's parents whom tell us about Maria Cristina's life:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWWdyk6yQgw&list=UUcVL0C_Be0PWs0H8yYZ4lDw

VIttoria tells us why her mother was born without arms

Vittoria, Maria Cristina's eldest daughter tells us why her mother was born without arms. Click link below to watch video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9KzbciV2VY&list=UUcVL0C_Be0PWs0H8yYZ4lDw