Product Description

In the feature documentary, Summer 82 - When Zappa Came to Sicily, filmmaker and Zappa fan Salvo Cuccia tells the behind-the-scenes story of Frank Zappa's star-crossed concert in Palermo, Sicily, the wrap-up to a European tour that ended in public disturbances and police intervention. Cuccia had a ticket to the concert but never made it. Thirty years later, collaborating with Zappa's family, he re-creates the events through a combination of rare concert and backstage footage; photographs; anecdotes from family, band members, and concertgoers; and insights from Zappa biographer and friend Massimo Bassoli. The story is also a personal one, as Cuccia interweaves the story of Zappa's trip to Sicily with his own memories from that summer. The film looks at the rise and heyday of Frank Zappa's career as an innovative composer and libertarian provocateur, and includes tales of the relationship of a busy father with his children. While in Sicily for the concert, Zappa visited Partinico, the birthplace of his father and grandfather; and in the film's warm and loving coda, three of Zappa's children, Dweezil, Moon Diva and his wife Gail, return to meet their relatives there for the first time.

Review

The film is a story within a story... ...never-before-seen footage of Frank Zappa's visit to Partinico led by his friend Massimo Bassoli and, 30 years later, of his children Dweezil and Diva in the footsteps of their father. Stefania Cubello, --Vogue

In Cuccia's touching film, fans see a different side of Zappa --- The film has a wonderful soundtrack of Zappa compositions...Zappa was one of the most inventive, eclectic musicians of the last century, writing for rock ensembles, orchestras, bands and other combinations. He also was a biting satirist of the foibles of his time. Cliff Bellamy, --The Herald-Sun

Frank Zappa, from Los Angeles to Sicily - the guitarist's journey to discover his origins...a precious documentary, capturing countless sides of an iconoclastic genius of the past century. Barbara Tomasino --The Huffington Post