SYNOPSIS
Vincent, a Nigerian man in his fifties with a past as a mercenary, now sleeps on the streets of Termini. Every day, he gathers his belongings and walks across Rome to sweep the streets of Grottarossa. While other homeless people have resigned themselves to a life of begging and meals offered by volunteers, Vincent fights to earn the right to choose what to eat. However, when he drinks, the ghosts of a buried past resurface to haunt him.
DOSSIER
After over a year of volunteering and another year of filming, including both short and feature films, directors Alejandro Cifuentes and Gregorio Sassoli return to tell the story of the homeless in Rome, focusing on the life of Vincent.
Vincent is a former mercenary who fought in various conflicts, including the Liberian Civil War. Today, he lives on the streets in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Rome. His daily life is marked by the struggle to survive and the battle with the traumatic memories of his past. Every day, Vincent gets up, grabs his backpack, and sets out on his “mission” as a street cleaner, repeating this routine like an automaton, trying to hide the weight of his experiences.
Despite trying to forget through alcohol, it is this very dependence that brings his inner wounds back to the surface, creating an internal conflict that erupts with force. Yet, every day, everything fades again into his fragmented memory, fueling a continuous cycle of oblivion and survival.
This documentary explores a reality invisible to many: the lives of the homeless, offering a raw and powerful glimpse into a human condition that remains too often ignored. Vincent: I’m a Machine is a film that not only tells a personal story but also raises universal questions about memory, pain, and resilience.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
I’M A MACHINE was born from the desire to give a human face to those who have become invisible to the eyes of society, through a raw narrative devoid of any rhetoric or judgment. We wanted to create a story that had the breadth of a narrative film. For us it was crucial to convey a story with a strong emotional arc, capable of involving the audience both as observers and as active participants in this hidden world. Spending a lot of time in Termini station let us go beyond the surface and get the roughest essence of that place and the people, showing their invisible face and above all what we’re not used to seeing. This movie is an attempt to train our gaze and the spectator’s.
STYLE
Filming in the unpredictable and dangerous environment of Termini station required a basic and flexible approach, both in terms of crew and equipment. We used a Sony Alpha 7S III and took care of the audio ourselves, keeping everything as discreet as possible. This was not just a practical choice, but a targeted decision. Our goal was to create a direct and authentic connection with the people we filmed. Having a larger crew or cumbersome equipment would have ruined this intimacy, making our subjects more aware of the camera and changing their behavior. By remaining discreet, we allowed them to feel at ease.
