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
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