Classic car dealer, collector and journalist Simon Kidston has filmed a modern remake of the classic 1976 short film ‘C’était un Rendezvous‘ to gather donations for the Italian Red Cross.
The coronavirus is a worldwide problem, but Italy has been especially hard hit. Doctors and nurses work under conditions that are difficult to imagine in the western world. Kidston’s launched a GoFundMe campaign to support the Italian Red Cross by using his video ‘C’etait une Urgence‘ to request donations. The new video follows the formula laid out in the original, only this time, the driver tears through the streets of Rome, in what appears to be an ambulance. At the end of the video, the driver hands over an aid package to a Red Cross nurse in front of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti church above the Spanish Steps, mimicking the final scene of the French original, where the driver broke every traffic law in France to meet his girlfriend (1967 Miss Sweden Gunilla Friden) at the Sacre-Coeur.
“You’ve seen the original 1970s movie, racing through Paris at dawn, which nearly landed the director in jail. So we asked ourselves: when better during our lifetimes to repeat the feat than now, with empty streets, to raise money for charity and help COVID victims? And which more beautiful city to race through than Rome? Here it is: please give something to the Italian Red Cross and spare a thought for your friends behind bars!”
Simon Kidston