"Valentina and the MUOSters" – US military base in Sicily divides a community

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A young woman strives for self-reliance as local people protest the US military communications system that has landed in their rural town

The title of Francesca Scalisi’s documentary evokes a 1950s sci-fi yarn, even if the film’s visuals are rooted in the drama of the everyday. The acronym MUOS stands for Mobile User Objective System, an advanced satellite communications system used by the US military to direct drones, missiles and other kinds of attacks from a distance. One of the key MUOS ground stations is located in Niscemi, a rural Sicilian town that is also home to Valentina, a 27-year-old woman teetering on the cusp of maturity. Politically engaged yet intimate, Scalisi’s film captures two parallel struggles for autonomy: the local people’s protests against the MUOS base, and Valentina’s determination to lead an independent life.

Much emphasis is placed on Valentina’s complicated relationship with her loving but over-protective parents. A sensitive introvert, she doesn’t work and still lives at the family home, unlike her older sister who has established a career elsewhere. Trying to become more self-reliant, Valentina picks up driving and applies for jobs, but her efforts are often met with harsh criticism from her father. Scalisi links these intense moments of familial discord to the atmosphere of surveillance that engulfs the area. Valentina is routinely stopped and questioned by troops stationed at the MUOS base, moments of disruption that turn her home into a land of strangers.

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