When director Gianni Amelio was asked by Rai Cinema to make a film based on the book BORN TWICE he didn’t think he could do it, as he felt he would never be able to convey the feelings of the father of a son who suffers from cerebral palsy. But after Amelio met Andrea Rossi, who went on to play in the film, he decided to model the character of the son, Paolo, on both the author’s son in the book and Andrea Rossi. Even though they do not resemble each other physically, they share the same ‘unawareness’ of danger, the same trusting cheerfulness and the same ‘joie de vivre’. Gianni Amelio has dedicated his film to Andrea Rossi and Andrea Pontiggia, the son of the author of the book. The title THE KEYS TO THE HOUSE refers to children passing from childhood to adolescence, when their parents let them come home late at night and open the front door without knocking; when they first feel grown-up. Paolo is very proud that he has the keys to the house where he lives, even though he can’t use them without help.

'Filming was a special event, thanks to Andrea. He impacted the filming in a good way, his irony cancelling out every problem, small or large, that is part of any film shoot… He’s a presence – a strong and strange one, like Spielberg’s ET. He’s an innocent. But children are not innocents. He’s neither child nor man; he’s rich in his own way, he’s mysterious, unique. He’s not normal, but I don’t see him as a handicapped person. I didn’t want to make a film about the tragedy of handicap, but about difference. I wanted to talk about how hard it is to love someone who is physically different, who has been struck by an affliction.' Gianni Amelio

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