Rosalia #400

On the occasion of the four hundredth anniversary of the cult of the patron saint of the city of Palermo, the Festival celebrates the Santuzza with two screenings: The Virgin of Palermo comes from the Festival archives and has been awarded as Best Direction in the 2008 edition; Santa Rosalia, just realised and premiered for the Festival, crosses the perspectives of new devotions and citizenships.

The Virgin of Palermo

regia / director Antonio Guidi
fotografia / photography Sudeehr Palsane
montaggio / editing Ulkire Tortora
produzione / production Antonio Guidi, University of Television and Film Munich
Germania 2005, 82′, italiano con sottotitoli in inglese / Germany 2005, 82′, Italian with English subtitles

The Virgin of Palermo is dedicated to the stories, legends and songs that have grown up around the Santa Rosalia, patron saint of the city of Palermo. These stories hide in the town’s deepest corners, are passed down by word of mouth and have survived for centuries on the stages of theatres large and small. The annual “festino”, a festival in honour of the saint, is the yearly highlight of the city’s life and is celebrated with deep devotion and worldly pleasures. The film is a document on the rituals and traditions around Santa Rosalia, and it tells of the people of Palermo, who keep the legend alive in their songs of triumph, puppet theatres, thoughts and feelings. Who was Saint Rosalia really? In this film everybody gives their personal point of view.

Santa Rosalia

regia / director Eugenio Giorgianni
fotografia / photography Ruben Monterosso, Nicolò Cappello
montaggio / editing Eugenio Giorgianni
produzione / production Prin 2017 Migrazioni, spaesamento e appaesamento, Sylff Program Istituto Arrupe
post-produzione / post-production Studio Marino
Italia 2024, 60′, Italiano, kreol mauriziano, sanscrito, con sottotitoli in inglese e italiano / Italy 2024, 60′, Italian, Kreol morisien, Sanskrit with Italian and English subtitles

The film crosses the perspectives of four devotees of Santa Rosalia: two adult men (a brother of the Confraternity of Santa Rosalia at the Marabitti and a Mauritian who has been living in Palermo for over thirty years) and two young people (a young brother and a Mauritian girl). Their relationship with Santuzza and with her sanctuary on Monte Pellegrino intersect with the images of the local festival of Santa Rosalia and with the Ganpati celebration (both festivals held in September 2021). The film pays particular attention to the theme of the miracle, with a moving testimony relating to Covid 19. In the final scenes of the film, the protagonists attend the screening of a pre-release of the film and share an unprecedented space of their devotion: its audiovisual representation.