Armida has a tough job in a male-dominated environment, and she does it with stiffness yet humanity. At the end of the 1980s she is the warden of Lodi prison and in love with Umberto, a teacher at Milano-Opera prison. The scenes set in Lodi and the period when she works at Lodi prison were shot in Tuscany at the Consorzio di Bonifica Grossetana and in Alberese (GR). Some parts of the film were shot in Casacalenda (CB) in Molise, Armida’s hometown.
The death of her partner leads her to take up a number of transfers as she tries to find peace, along with the truth about the circumstances surrounding his death.
This brings us to the rugged Pianosa (LI), a strip of land in the middle of the sea that has been a place of isolation for prisoners and prison guards for decades. It is here amongst the old and somewhat crumbling colonial-style buildings that house the prison guards and their relatives, visible from the marina, that Armida, the only woman on the island, spends her days working, running and occasionally swimming, and that she seems to find a family in her team.
But it’s a temporary peace. Soon after, she decides to accept a job running the fearsome Ucciardone prison in Palermo (the area around the prison was used to film the scene in which she gives her speech after taking up office). The Sicilian capital is shown here in all its glory one night when Armida decides to let go and allows herself to be taken for a spin around the city.
In the later stages of her life, Armida takes on Sulmona prison. Most of the filming for this part of the film took place in Ancona, near Montacuto prison, including the closing scene which is set in the warden’s apartment. One very picturesque location used in this part of the film is the hydroelectric dam in the Furlo Nature Reserve (PU).
These would be the final days in the life of Armida, as on the evening of Good Friday 2003, during the traditional Procession of Dead Christ in Sulmona (AQ), she decided to end her life, shooting herself in the head in her apartment near the prison on Via Lamaccio.
Some scenes were filmed in Lazio, in Civitavecchia and Rome, and in Apulia, in Taranto, Foggia, Lesina, Lucera and Volturara Appula.
Armida has a tough job in a male-dominated environment, and she does it with stiffness yet humanity. At the end of the 1980s she is the warden of Lodi prison and in love with Umberto, a teacher at Milano-Opera prison. The scenes set in Lodi and the period when she works at Lodi prison were shot in Tuscany at the Consorzio di Bonifica Grossetana and in Alberese (GR). Some parts of the film were shot in Casacalenda (CB) in Molise, Armida’s hometown.
The death of her partner leads her to take up a number of transfers as she tries to find peace, along with the truth about the circumstances surrounding his death.
This brings us to the rugged Pianosa (LI), a strip of land in the middle of the sea that has been a place of isolation for prisoners and prison guards for decades. It is here amongst the old and somewhat crumbling colonial-style buildings that house the prison guards and their relatives, visible from the marina, that Armida, the only woman on the island, spends her days working, running and occasionally swimming, and that she seems to find a family in her team.
But it’s a temporary peace. Soon after, she decides to accept a job running the fearsome Ucciardone prison in Palermo (the area around the prison was used to film the scene in which she gives her speech after taking up office). The Sicilian capital is shown here in all its glory one night when Armida decides to let go and allows herself to be taken for a spin around the city.
In the later stages of her life, Armida takes on Sulmona prison. Most of the filming for this part of the film took place in Ancona, near Montacuto prison, including the closing scene which is set in the warden’s apartment. One very picturesque location used in this part of the film is the hydroelectric dam in the Furlo Nature Reserve (PU).
These would be the final days in the life of Armida, as on the evening of Good Friday 2003, during the traditional Procession of Dead Christ in Sulmona (AQ), she decided to end her life, shooting herself in the head in her apartment near the prison on Via Lamaccio.
Some scenes were filmed in Lazio, in Civitavecchia and Rome, and in Apulia, in Taranto, Foggia, Lesina, Lucera and Volturara Appula.
Copyright: Marche Film Commission – Fondazione Marche Cultura
Valeria Golino, Filippo Timi - Ancona
Copyright: Marche Film Commission – Fondazione Marche Cultura
Valeria Golino - Casa Circondariale Montacuto, Ancona
Copyright: Marche Film Commission – Fondazione Marche Cultura
Diga Enel, Gola del Furlo - Fermignano (PU)
The true story of Armida Miserere, one of the first women to run a prison. Her life is turned upside down when her partner, Umberto Mormile, is killed. She has herself sent to the most dangerous prisons in the country on an ardent quest to discover the truth about Umberto’s death.
