Stories from Sicily

Italy's in Season

January 1967 •English

This short film presents a look at Italy's popular tourist spots.

Excellent Cadavers

August 2005 •English

In the late-80s and early-90s, two prosecutors went after the mob in Sicily. Archival footage, gruesome photographs and new interviews are shown.

No Country For Young Men

May 2022 •Italian

A retired bricklayer wants his grandson, who lives hundreds of miles away, to stay with him. Will he convince the young man despite the lack of opportunities in the country?

Il Pranzo di Natale di Mario Soldati

December 1958 •Italian

Mario Soldati accompanies us in search of genuine food, this time to discover the culinary traditions of Christmas lunch, with Father Mariano, Cesare Zavattini, the shoemaker Angelo Gatto, the baroness Aurelia Michetti and the General Lorenzo De Grandi.

Once Upon a Time in Polizzi

October 2005 •English

The film follows Vincent Schiavelli as he returns to Polizzi Generosa, the very town in Sicily his grandparents emigrated from in 1901.

Behind the Doors of Umberto Eco

October 2012 •French

Umberto Eco, the author of best-selling novels who passed away in February 2016, unveils the secrets behind his undertakings and novels.

La trattativa

October 2014 •Italian

Mirage

September 2020 •Italian

Mali - Algeria - Libya - Italy. Issa’s escape from West Africa to the European mainland lasted ten years. Everything was supposed to be better here. But when he arrived in Rome, the only thing waiting for the young man was a life of homelessness and unemployment – which meant no money to send home. Drissa and Sekou share a similar fate, waiting in Italian asylum centres for a residence permit. Then there’s Bubu, who, forced to move from job to job, is unable to settle down. And lastly comes Alassane, who lives without identity papers in a state of constant uncertainty in a refugee camp near Rome. They all have one thing in common: after a gruelling odyssey, none of them has found the Italy they were hoping for when they arrived. Disillusioned, they find themselves in a vacuum of waiting, reflecting on the time they live in and the time that lies ahead.

Daughter of a Lost Bird

March 2021 •English

What does blood have to do with identity? Kendra Mylnechuk, an adult Native adoptee, born in 1980 at the cusp of the enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act, is on a journey to reconnect with her birth family and discover her Lummi heritage.

The Valley of the Jato

June 2013 •English

In the heart of Sicily, where the Mafia still rules, one man and his family-run TV station, has become the lone voice against corruption and organized crime.

De Toorts

Invalid date •Dutch

Documentary about the Dutch painter Caspar van Wittel.

Black and White Stripes: The Juventus Story

October 2016 •Italian

Set against the backdrop of 'the beautiful game', Black and White Stripes tells the epic story of Italy's legendary Agnelli family and their team, Juventus F.C., as they set out to capture an elusive gold star in order to avoid annihilation. As the inspirational journey unfolds, the film weaves in game-changing moments from their heart-wrenching legacy - revealing the profound passion between family and team. On and off the field it's love, war and breathtaking cinema.

Flying with Fins

February 2024 •Bulgarian

Paintings, performances, experiments, electronic music sounding in the spaces of two old houses in a small Italian town, heated conversations about contemporary art, touching meetings with the closest people and places in Bulgaria after 50 years of separation. "Flying with Fins" is a film about the constant search for meaning in art and life. Alzek Misheff, artist - rebel and experimenter, leads us in this philosophical and aesthetic journey through time, space and ideas.

The Way South

January 1981 •Dutch

Johan van der Keuken went against the grain in 1980: from Amsterdam (on April 30 with the coronation riots and squatting actions) via Paris, southern France and Italy to Egypt. He made his personal travelogue in three parts for VPRO television. Later, he fused the three parts into one long movie.

Die Ludolfs - Der Film

April 2009 •German

The four brothers Peter, Uwe, Manni and Günter live together in the German town of Dernbach and run what is probably the most chaotic car recycling business in Germany. Nothing is the same here as in other junkyards. Over four million spare parts lie in huge piles in the brothers' warehouse. Nevertheless, they manage to find just the right spare part time and time again and get a car back into shape.

Fascism in Colour

January 2006 •English

After the World War I, Mussolini's perspective on life is severely altered; once a willful socialist reformer, now obsessed with the idea of power, he founds the National Fascist Party in 1921 and assumes political power in 1922, becoming the Duce, dictator of Italy. His success encourages Hitler to take power in Germany in 1933, opening the dark road to World War II. (Originally released as a two-part miniseries. Includes colorized archival footage.)

House of the Wickedest Man in the World

March 2023 •English

House of the Wickedest Man in the World is the story of a ruined building near the city of Cefalú in Sicily. In the early 1920s, Aleister Crowley, the most famous occultist of his time, lived in the building, practicing magical rituals. In the summer of 1955, Kenneth Anger, considered one of the pioneers of experimental cinema, traveled with sexologist Alfred Kinsey to Sicily to find Aleister Crowley’s temple to shoot a film about the occultist’s time in Cefalú. The Thelema Abbey film was never released.

Come il Bianco

July 2020 •French

La baia dei lupi

January 2010 •Italian

The Dark Side

November 2019 •Italian

A real initiatory journey that, through the discovery and the story of myths, legends, inexplicable events and macabre details, will lead the viewer and the conductor to confront each one with their own fears.