DHOBIGHAT

What happens in a typical hotel in Mumbai (India) when guests leave dirty clothes to be washed and they are delivered the next day, in perfect condition? This documentary tells us what happens in the intervening period.

The Dhobighat is the world's largest outdoor laundry. Here 4,000 members of the dhobi cast work night and day in order to guarantee an essential service to Mumbai's 15 million inhabitants. It's extremely hard work and it is done by members of a lowly immigrant class. Most dhobis are illiterate, but they are highly organised and efficient. Their story is unusual and it is one that can only be found in India.

Giorgio Garini

He was born in Milan ( Italy ) in 1961.

He mainly worked as assistant director on the majority of Silvio Soldini’s films (“Paesaggio con figure”, “Giulia in ottobre”, “L’aria serena dell’ovest”, “Un’anima divisa in due” e “Le acrobate”) produced by Monogatari srl, the production company he established with Silvio Soldini himself.

In the meantime, he also continued to make documentary films starting with some short ethnographic reportage focusing on South East Asia (“Nayak” ( 16’ ) in competition at Bellaria Film Festival in 1987, “Sud Est” ( 12’ ) second prize at the Festival Internazionale del Cinema Giovani of Turin in 1988, “Nusa Indah” ( 17’ ) judges prize at the Festival del Garda in 1991), and then progressing to longer in depth documentaries on a variety of subjects:

1991 - He was the co-author with Silvio Soldini of “Musiche bruciano” ( 55’ ), a documentary about the amateur rock groups.

1992 - For RTSI (Swiss Italian Television) he made “La fotografia non basta alla vita” ( 45’ ), about Roberto Donetta, a travelling photographer living in Ticino (CH) at the beginning of 1900.

1994 - “I Rambone, storia di una famiglia” ( 60’ ) a documentary about the second generation of the Italian emigrants in Switzerland (first prize at the National Festival of the Italian Documentary in San Benedetto del Tronto in 1995).

1996 - “Made in Lombardia” ( 45’ ), a travelogue he made in Lombardy with Silvio Soldini (first prize for documentaries at the International Film Festival in Salerno ).

1996 - “ Hanoi 6 a .m ” ( 20’ ) a short reportage about Vietnam .

1997 - “Memorie di un albero” ( 55’ ), made for RTSI (Swiss Italian Television), about the reconstruction of a family tree.

1997 - “Anni di stupore” ( 40’ ), a documentary about the world of old people in Milan (winner at the National Festival of the Italian Documentary in San Benedetto del Tronto in 1998).

1998 - He edited with Silvio Soldini “Case, cose e città” ( 54’ ), an editing-documentary for the RAI (Italian Public Television) program “Alfabeto Italiano”.

1999 - “Rom Tour” ( 84’ ), with Silvio Soldini, about the problems in the gipsy camps in Florence suburbs. This documentary had been inspired by Antonio Tabucchi’s book “Gipsies and Renaissance”. (Planete Prize at Florence Film Festival dei Popoli, Commendation at Salerno International Film Festival).

2000 - “27 Dollari” ( 62’ ), a documentary about Grameen Bank’s experience in Bangladesh .

2001 - “Kumbh Mela” ( 35’ ), with Giuseppe Baresi, about the biggest human gathering ever held on the planet, that took place in Allahabad , India .

2002 - “Riflessi di un viaggio” ( 60’ ), with Giuseppe Baresi, a documentary about Silvio Soldini’s cinema.

2004 - “Dhobighat” ( 48’ ), a documentary about a working place, Dhobighat, the biggest open air laundry in the world and the work of the dhobis, or washermen, that live in Mumbai , India . (First Prize at Astra Film Fest-International Film Festival of Documentary and Visual Anthropology in Sibiu , Romania , Chatwin Prize in La Spezia ( Italy ).