Social & External
The people behind it
Antonio Pandolfo
Stefania Blandeburgo
Cesare Biondolillo
Giuseppe Battiloro
Marco Manera
Salvo Cambria
A foreign writer is in Sicily and believes that careful observation is enough to understand Sicilian culture and Sicilians. However, through his stories, he learns that you cannot know or understand Sicily or Sicilians through mere observation. You have to stand beside its people, shoulder to shoulder (Spalla a Spadda), share their struggles and their victories. Only then can you begin to understand
On the outskirts of Augusta lives Orazio: a mechanic by vocation. Due to countless misadventures he cannot open a workshop. To give vent to his anger, he transforms mopeds and scooters into “glittered motorized umbrellas.” Glitter helmets and hyper-colored decorations dress him up; thus begins his passion for “light” understood as a superior force.
Ritornato is a story of a man who returns home to take care of his dying mother and promises to fulfill her last wish: to be buried alongside her father in Sicily. While there, he discovers a family secret that will change his life forever and help him find a new beginning.
In 1061, a handful of Norman mercenaries, led by the son of a noble family from Hauteville-la-Guichard, a village in the Normandy bocage, set foot on the Sicilian coast. Roger de Hauteville and his troops had been commissioned by the Pope to reconquer the island from the Arabs, who had seized it in 831. These fearsome warriors took thirty years to achieve their goal, but when they finally entered Palermo in 1071, their leader became an enlightened ruler. Relying on the high quality of the local Arab administration, particularly in tax matters, he set about building what was to become one of the most prosperous and advanced kingdoms of his time.
In 827 A.D., eager young warrior Tariq and a tight-knit band of Black soldiers are lured into war by a beguiling, exiled general looking to settle a score against the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. To defeat the Romans, Tariq and his friends must sacrifice themselves to change the face of Europe, forevermore bringing a new culture to the continent and beginning two centuries of Moorish rule in Sicily.
Against the backdrop of a Sicily in the midst of a water emergency, two residents of the small town of Rocca Fiorita tackle the problem, one relying on reason, the other on faith. Sebastiano, a farm owner, represents rationality. To prevent his horses from dying, he tries to call the municipality and force them to intervene at the main pump. Nerina, an Italian-American woman and fervent religious believer, decides to organize a special procession to ask for mercy from Our Lady of Help. The two opposing views will lead to a conflict between the two.
An enormous shroud of white cement covers a hillside in the remote of western Sicily. It is both land art and a memorial to the town of Gibellina that was devastated by an earthquake in January 1968. It’s a work by the Italian artist Alberto Burri. He covered the ruins of the town with white cement and fissures function as pathways that wind through an area of roughly 20 acres. Petra Noordkamp captures Il Grande Cretto di Gibellina by Alberto Burri as an experentiental work of art filled with a sense of place and history.
A deported gangster trains an Italian convict to take over his operations in the U.S.
A documentary film about the independent band UZEDA who brought a disruptive sound from Sicily to almost everywhere.
Sicily, July 1943. At dawn on Operation Husky, photojournalist Robert Capa and a young Italian American soldier find themselves isolated in the Sicilian countryside. An encounter with a humble farmer and his son transforms a forced stop into a moment of suspension from the conflict, culminating in a photograph that will become a symbol of the Italian Campaign.
Gibellina, the city rebuilt from the dream of a great man, Ludovico Corrao. From the 1968 earthquake to its rebirth through art.
Adele and Sofia, childhood friends now in their thirties, reunite after years apart to fulfill a dream they once shared: reaching the summit of Mount Etna. But something feels off, and a bitter confrontation breaks out, opening old wounds and unveiling deeply buried secrets. They separate just as the volcano begins to tremble. Adele presses on alone, haunted by the wish that she had turned back and reached the crater together with Sofia to listen to the mountain’s magical breathing.
Letizia Battaglia (1935–2022) stands among the greatest figures of Italian social documentary photography. At nearly forty, this mother of three left everything behind to become a photojournalist and started working for the newspaper L’Ora. She captured her native Palermo with rare intensity, documenting both the brutal grip of the Cosa Nostra on the city and the everyday lives of its inhabitants with a focus on women and children. A committed activist, she became politically involved in the fight against the mafia during the 1980s. In this intimate portrait, Letizia Battaglia tells her story through her most iconic photographs. Through her gaze, at once tender and piercing, the full complexity of Palermo comes to light.
People in Catania for centuries live on a verge of an active volcano. What are their attitudes, and how precisely can we predict the volcano's activity today?
Ratty: The Downfall of NYC Rats, is an observational documentary giving a voice to the intriguing yet terrifying furry rodents of New York City. Ratty uses street interviews, archival footage, and interviews with organizations such as SenesTech, Positive Pest Management, and PETA to answer the question: How are we alleviating the problem? Does the solution lie in the hands of the people, or City Hall and Sanitation? The whimsical caricature of a Brooklyn rat, played by El Gabriel Gomez, provides a lighthearted transition between interviews. Will the launch of rat birth control be the solution, or another attempt at control that will fail?
{In the middle of Switzerland, Zeb meets the road of Mark. A hitchhiker who meets a racing car driver, a human against an other human.} } Created on the words: ROAD - SWITZERLAND - PASTA
An episodic satire of the political and social status of Italy in the seventies, through the shows of one day of a television channel.
Lizzie McGuire has graduated from middle school and takes a trip to Rome, Italy with her class. And what was supposed to be only a normal trip, becomes a teenager's dream come true.
Antonio, a former variety actor, keeps his daughter in an excellent boarding school by organizing small scams with his friend and colleague Felice. Commissioner Malvasia good-naturedly persecuted him. When their respective unsuspecting children fall in love, the two fathers make peace.
A small Sicilian town elects a new, honest major but quickly learns that playing by the rules is not as easy as it seems.
Sergio Benvenuti is a shy seller of contracts for a Roman company of music, but because of his character he cannot find even a customer, so he asks for help from a fellow named Nadia.
A commitment-phobic 27-year old’s relationship is put to the test when she and her boyfriend attend 7 weddings in the same year.
In what might be his most personal and introspective hour yet, Bill offers hilarious takes on everything from male sadness to dating advice.
When an upwardly mobile couple find themselves unemployed and in debt, they turn to armed robbery in desperation.
Puppy mayhem turns the lives of newlywed Chihuahua parents Papi and Chloe upside down when their rambunctious, mischievous puppies present one challenge after another. But when their human owners end up in trouble, the tiny pups will stop at nothing to save them - because in good times and hard times, the family always sticks together. So Papi, Chloe and the puppies embark on a heroic adventure, proving once again that big heroes come in small packages.
Ricky Gervais tackles life, death and the state of the world in a brutally honest special that spares no topic, even his own mortality.
Kids from a huge apartment complex in Rome form a secret society to unite their forces and get back at the nasty adults who 'oppress' them, playing pranks on them to expose their weaknesses.
In Pietrasanta all are excited for the annual party of summer end. Here we find four characters: Merigo, a naive guy passionate of bike; Pierre, son of the mayor; Simone, a pestiferous kid; Mario, lifeguard of "Bagnomaria".
Sara and Nicola are married and in love. Their lives seem to be perfect: they have an angelic six-year-old daughter, thriving careers and a stable marriage. The birth of their second child, which disrupts the family balance, leads to tragicomic scenarios.
When college friends reunite after 15 years over the Christmas holidays, they discover just how easy it is for long-forgotten rivalries and romances to be reignited.
After NBA star Kevin Durant switches talent with 16 year old Brian, the teenager becomes the star of his high school team, but Durant starts struggling and eventually learns an important lesson.
The film tells the story of three best friends named Ako, Aki and Awang, who are well-known in their village for their mischievous and humourous pranks. The trio work for Pak Man. One day, they are assigned to pick up his daughter Misha, who has just returned from overseas and dreams of becoming a doctor. The trio have been in love with her for a long time but she does not pay them any heed. When Misha is robbed by a snatch thief one day, she is rescued by a doctor named Shafiq. Her face reminds the doctor of his late wife, and he begins to pursue her, which annoys the trio.
Estranged, quarreling brothers Carezza and Sorriso have to put aside their differences to reclaim their father's beloved dune buggy from predatory real estate developer Torsillo, with the help of beautiful circus performer Miriam, whose family business is threatened by Torsillo's enforcers.
Mike Fallon, the Accident Man, is a stone cold killer. When a loved one is murdered by his own crew, Fallon is forced to avenge the one person who actually meant something to him.
Tommaso, a single father of four, has shut himself off from the world. When his daughters push him to start over, he meets Lara — a brilliant, captivating woman. But both carry secrets that could change everything.
Two reckless friends Leonardo (Adriano Celentano) and Luciano (Renato Potstsetto) are just doing whatever they want and getting into endless alterations. When one of them decides to marry, their friendship is in a crisis ...
