Alvaro Bizzarri: worker & filmmaker
Alvaro Bizzarri was the first Italian worker in Switzerland to choose the camera to give voice to migrants and denounce the often aberrant conditions of seasonal workers.
The film " Lo Stagionale " is his best-known work.
Born in the province of Pistoia, after completing his obligatory schooling he followed his parents to Switzerland in search of work.
During the first years of his life, he worked in a factory and attended French and German courses.
The discrimination and injustices faced by Italian immigrants in the early 1970s led him to search for an effective tool to denounce these injustices and, at the same time, to find a means to defend our rights and dignity. The most appropriate instrument to effectively wage this struggle was the camera.
Driven by this will, but without any experience or means, he found employment in a photography store.
There he was able to study the manual and mechanisms of amateur film cameras.
In order to gain more and more knowledge about the mechanisms and shooting techniques and to be able to explain them to the customers in the best possible way, the store owner allowed him to use a Super 8 camera every weekend.
With this camera and financial support from the Colonia Libera Italiana (migrant organisation), Alvaro Bizzarri was able to shoot his first film.
The store owner then sent him to a specialization course for 16mm cameras at the Bolex studios in Yverdon.
He then shot his films with the help of organizations, associations and cultural institutions. After these first experiences, he was able to make his films in collaboration with Swiss television (TSI and RTSR) and German television (ZDF).
Seasonal workers living in shacks
Film “Lo Stagionale”
Our interview with Alvaro
