RTSI, the Swiss national broadcast TV channel is using Fullscreen QTVR to promote an upcoming series, in the prelaunch phase:LINEA DI CONFINE (Borderline) is a new television drama filmed entirely in Italian-speaking Switzerland. The detective series focuses on the interlocking human and criminal affairs, and local and international intrigues that take place in the frontier zone.
The episodes aim to be realistic, and are based on real-life events, but exaggerated and romanticised to highlight the tensions and problems of the border zone today.
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Rather than focusing on a single main character, the drama centres on a whole squad of border guards and their activities at a small border post, on duty in the border strip, or at the hi-tech scientific and information centre.
Two women and two men – played by Benedetta Mazzini, Cecilia Broggini, Maurizio Trombini and Joe Lars Prinz – patrol the territory, follow leads and reconstruct the actions of illegal immigrants and traffickers, assisted by a more mature and long-standing guard commander (played by Cito Steiger), a brilliant scientific expert (Massimo Rocchi), the head of the information centre (Chantal Martinoni), the diligent and all-knowing head of the operations department (Gianmario Arringa) who, whilst fully appreciative of his squad, is sometimes forced to rein back their impulsiveness, and the friendly informer and former smuggler (Diego Gaffuri) who provides a link with the past.
The artistic cast combines a number of prominent Italian Swiss TV drama actors with very young local actors who have appeared in cinematic productions as well as national and international theatre but have never before starred in a local series.
Technical specialists from the Swiss Italian-language television company TSI apply and fine-tune their skills at recreating events from the past. Massimo Donati and Alessandro Maccagni alternate as directors of the six episodes.
The screenplays have been entrusted to a pool of writers from Ticino and the Insubrica region with in-depth knowledge of the area, namely (in alphabetical order) Michele Andreoli, Lorenzo Buccella, Elvira Dones, Enzo Pelli, Davide Pinardi and Ira Rubini with Danny De Ritis.
Three-quarters of the six episodes of LINEA DI CONFINE were filmed on location and a quarter in the studio. The subjects dealt with include not only the international trafficking of narcotics, performance-enhancing substances, jewels, archaeological relics and arms, the trafficking of toxic substances to make dirty-bombs, and the distribution network for counterfeit goods, but also topical tales of illegal immigrants smuggled in by unscrupulous people traffickers, a divorcee’s attempt to flee abroad with his daughter and even minor types of smuggling such as meat, wine and clothing.
Minor and major crimes are interwoven with the daily lives of the border guards, who were assisted in the preparatory stages by valuable ideas and advice from the real Swiss-Italian Corpo delle Guardie di Confine IV, who should be credited for the realism of the production.
Main actors:
Benedetta Mazzini
Maurizio Trombini
Cecilia Broggini
Joe Lars Prinz
Cito Steiger
Massimo Rocchi
Directed by:
Massimo Donati
Alessandro Maccagni
Produced by:
Giulia Fretta
