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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A documentary film about the independent band UZEDA who brought a disruptive sound from Sicily to almost everywhere.
Gibellina, the city rebuilt from the dream of a great man, Ludovico Corrao. From the 1968 earthquake to its rebirth through art.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Ricordu (“memory” in Sicilian) is a deeply personal film about my grandfather, his homeland, and the legacy it has left within our family. What began as a simple attempt to film our holidays with my brother became a reflection on Sicily, memories, and the bonds that connect us. Through fragments of his story, I tried to capture what this land means to him… and what remains of it within us. I hope this film touches you as deeply as it touched me. Enjoy the film !
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.
Complications ensue when a family holiday turns chaotic after their flight tickets are deemed to be invalid.
Zorka, the daughter of wealthy parents, is in love with the poet Domyanovich, whom she has never seen. When he appears at her parents' house under a false name, Zorka for a long time cannot come to terms with the fact that the poet turns out to be the most ordinary and simple person... But love took its toll.
Set in 1980s. Both of Mrs Wei's two daughters are going to get married. Mrs Wei asks her daughters' boyfriends for full set of furniture, color TV sets and wedding cars as essential conditions. The two young men get into trouble.
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.
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.
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 good-natured but unlucky Italian is constantly going on a difficult situations, but never lose his mood.
An episodic satire of the political and social status of Italy in the seventies, through the shows of one day of a television channel.
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.
During a sun-soaked Sicilian summer, aimless filmmaking undergrad and back-seat radical Tanino has a fling with Sally, a dreamy American tourist from an upper background. When summer ends, Sally flies back home, without ever reaching out. Clueless, a smitten Tanino decides to pay her a surprise visit under the pretense of returning a camera she left behind. But when he gets there, he quickly realizes the reality of America—and his relationship with Sally's—is far from the idealized version his small-town boy imagination conjured.
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.
It's Bad For Ya, Carlin's Emmy nominated 14th and final HBO special from March of 2008 features Carlin's noted irreverent and unapologetic observations on topics ranging from death, religion, bureaucracy, patriotism, overprotected children and big business to the pungent examinations of modern language and the decrepit state of the American culture.
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.
Hyperactive teenager Kelly is enrolled into a military school when her new stepfather becomes the Commandant. At first she has problems fitting in and taking orders until she tries out for the drill team.
A petty thief pretends he is Mussolini's personal physician, wins the confidence of a family, and succeeds in stealing their gold cutlery.
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Eddie Murphy delights, shocks and entertains with dead-on celebrity impersonations, observations on '80s love, sex and marriage, a remembrance of Mom's hamburgers and much more.
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".
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 getting pregnant from a one-night stand, a single woman leans on her married best friend and mother of two to guide her through gestation and beyond.
