Valerio Ciriaci

In a year of uprisings and political unrest, Stonebreakers documents the fights around monuments in the United States and explores the shifting landscapes of the nation's historical memory.

Despite directing hundreds of silent films that captivated audiences from Naples to New York, Elvira Notari was relegated to the margins of film history for half a century. A pioneer of Neapolitan cinema, she created over sixty features blending popular culture and unvarnished realism. Silenced by Fascist censorship and the advent of sound, her work slipped into obscurity. Elvira Notari: Beyond Silence traces her legacy and the artists now bringing her vision back to life.

If Only I Were That Warrior is a feature documentary film focusing on the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in 1935. Following the recent construction of a monument dedicated to Fascist general Rodolfo Graziani, the film addresses the unpunished war crimes he and others committed in the name of Mussolini’s imperial ambitions. The stories of three characters, filmed in present day Ethiopia, Italy and the United States, take the audience on a journey through the living memories and the tangible remains of the Italian occupation of Ethiopia — a journey that crosses generations and continents to today, where this often overlooked legacy still ties the fates of two nations and their people.

Paulo is a 45-year-old Brazilian flight attendant. He is internationally famous in the after-hours world for the fabulous persona he has worked tirelessly to create, his artistic alter-ego, Gazelle. Paulo is HIV+ but never got sick before and now he sees his own life is in danger for the first time. With the sudden and tragic sad death of Eric, his partner of seven years, Paulo must pass through a life transformation. Looking to survive, he embarks on a conscious transformation, beginning with filtering what matters in his life. On his path, besides the new lover, he finds collaborators that push him forward in life and show more meanings for the word Love.

In this intoxicating short documentary, Valerio Ciriaci chronicles a day in the life of the contemporary Roman Jewish community. The only cultural group that has lived in Rome uninterrupted since the days of the empire, Roman Jews have fostered their own unique set of traditions. Taking place over the course of one day, Iom Romi (A Day in Rome) provides a view into a way of life that is at once distinctly Roman and distinctly Jewish.