Italy: an Actros 1853 stars in the movie “Drive me home”

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Road movie.

An Actros 1853 LS with flaming livery accompanies two emigrants half way across Europe in "Drive me home", the debut movie by Simone Catania. Mercedes‑Benz Italia provided the truck.


The Sicilian Agostino left his village in the mountains to work travelling the highways of Europe at the wheel of a semitrailer. He longed for another life far away from a reality he found stifling. Fifteen years after leaving the village, he bumps into his childhood friend Antonio in Belgium. Antonio too has turned his back on Sicily – to work in London. But when he heard that the house he was born and raised in was up for auction, he went in search of Agostino. Together the two men want to buy the building that holds so many memories for them.


Three film stars: Vinicio Marchioni (left, Antonio) and Marco D’Amore (Agostino) drive home to Sicily in an Actros in “Drive me home”.


The friends set off on a long journey south, crossing half of Europe, to reach their old home. During their long time in the cab, old conflicts resurface and secrets are aired, but they also discover and rediscover memories, secrets and dreams from their youth – before they reach their destination under circumstances they had not bargained with.

This is the story told by the movie “Drive me home”, that premiered at the 36th Torino Film Festival. It is the first feature film by the young director Simone Catania, who also wrote the script together with Fabio Natale. In the cab, which becomes the major backdrop of the movie, are the actor Marco D’Amore as Agostino – in the driver's seat – and Vinicio Marchioni who plays Antonio.



Catania’s film has another important protagonist, the truck, which carries them on their journey, literally bringing them home. This Actros 1853 LS was provided by Mercedes‑Benz Trucks Italia for the production of the movie. Its appearance is as spectacular as a star’s should be: black with red flames painted on the side walls, with the front lit up by dozens of red LEDs. It’s a picture that reflects Agostino’s nickname, Vulkaan, which is written on the windscreen, also in red LEDs.


“Drive me home” continues the series of recent movies made by young Italian directors starring truck drivers. In 2016 “Il camionista” by Giorgio Tirabassi was released, which is also about migrants. Three years before that, two other films about trucks were made: “L’ultima ruota del carro” by Giovanni Veronesi and “Tir” by Roberto Fasulo. Both were shown at the Festival Internazionale del Film di Roma, where “Tir” won the gold Marc'Aurelio Award for the best directing.


Photos: Giulia Manelli

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