Between Vesuvius and the Gulf of Naples, the land quakes from time to time, and the fumaroles of the Phlegraean Fields taint the air. The ruins that lie below — Pompeii, Herculaneum, long-submerged Roman villas — tell of a future that was buried by time. From these traces of history, memories of the subterranean world, in black and white, a lesser-known Naples emerges and fills with lives.
Below the clouds lies a territory criss-crossed by inhabitants, worshippers, tourists and archaeologists excavating the past — and by those who, in museums, strive to give new life and meaning to statues, fragments and ruins.
The train that rings Vesuvius makes its rounds as racehorses train along the shore. A teacher runs a makeshift after-school for children and adolescents. Firefighters in their command centre try to calm the fears of locals who call in; law enforcement pursue tomb robbers, while in Torre Annunziata, Syrian tankers unload Ukrainian grain.
A team of Japanese archaeologists continue their twenty-year excavation of Villa Augustea, extracting history from seeds, bones and layers of sediment. Tourists wander the ruins of Pompeii, and worshippers prostrate themselves at the church of the Madonna dell’Arco, where the crypts and ex-votos attest to the belief of a world that has survived.
The land that skirts the Gulf is a vast time machine.
DIRECTOR’S NOTES:
For three years, I lived and filmed at the horizons of Vesuvius, seeking traces of history, the excavation of time, the remains of everyday life. I captured the stories in the voices of those who spoke; I watched the clouds and the smoke rising from the Phlegraean Fields. When I film, I embrace the surprise in an encounter, in a place, the life of a situation. The challenge is to follow the frame as the stories come to life. The time of the film is the trust of that encounter. I filmed in black and white, and I saw in black and white. As I filmed — between the sea, the sky, and Vesuvius — I uncovered a new archive of the true and the possible.
Festivals & awards:
AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival 2025: Documentary
BFI London Film Festival 2025: Journey
Busan International Film Festival 2025: Icons
Chicago International Film Festival 2025: Spotlight
El Gouna Film Festival 2025: Feature Documentary Competition
Festival Dolce Cinema 2025: Avant-première
Festival du Cinéma Italien de Montélimar – Le Teil 2025
Festival du Film Italien de Villerupt 2025: Compétition – Premio della Critica
Film Fest Gent 2025: Masters
IDFA – Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2025: Signed
International Film Festival of India 2025: Docu-Montage
Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival 2025: Constellations
La Biennale di Venezia 2025: Venezia 82 – Premio Speciale della Giuria
MittelCinemaFest 2025
Mostra Internacional de Cinema 2025: Perspectiva Internacional
New York Film Festival 2025: Main Slate
Seminci – Valladolid International Film Festival 2025: Sección Oficial
Stockholm International Film Festival 2025: Documentary
TIFF – Toronto International Film Festival 2025: TIFF Docs
Viennale 2025: Features
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2025: International Competition
Zinebi – Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Film 2025: Beautiful Docs