No Dogs or Italians Allowed

Not all great stories that make it to the cinema are starred by real actors. NO DOGS OR ITALIANS ALLOWED (2022), written and directed by Alain Ughetto, is an example of this. In addition to accumulating writing and directing, Alain Ughetto also constructs, with his own hands, the characters/family members, immortalizing, in the title, the discrimination to which Italians were subjected in a country that they helped to modernize.

It is a cinematographic work filmed in slow motion, which stands out for its personal and moving narrative, while taking, at the same time, an in-depth look at historical events that shaped the 20th century. The film is, as has often been said, a love letter from the director to his Italian ancestors (grandparents), Luigi and Cesira Ughetto, who faced the difficult journey of emigrating from the Piedmont region, in Italy, to France. A story of hunger, misery, wars and disease, occasionally interspersed with moments of hope and happiness.

One of the notable aspects of this film is the way in which it skillfully balances the story of the Ughetto family with the historical events that serve as a backdrop and give it a chronological order, in particular the Italo-Turkish war and the two world wars, connecting the Ughettos' personal experiences with the turmoil and significant changes that occurred in the world during this period. This approach gives the film a universal dimension and makes the family's story a microcosm of the struggles and challenges faced by humanity throughout time.

Among the animated figures, in some sequences, a human hand appears that dialogues with the narrator of the story, the grandmother, and which can symbolize both Luigi's talent and skill, and the importance of manual work, which is passed down from a generation to another, as well as the journey undertaken by Alain Ughetto's grandparents on the path to building a better life for their children and grandchildren.