2025 - 23' - Italian (Available subtitles: English, German)
Pozzuoli lies at the center of the crater of the Phlegraean Fields, where the earth breathes rising and falling in a continuous cycle. Here, where the boundary between the world of the living and that of the underworld has opened many times, the earth with its vapors and fumes, holds ancient mysteries and a latent energy, about to awaken.
A Graduate at ZeLIG School of Documentary Cinema, curator of the experimental section Spazio X at FrontDOC International Film Festival, and staff member of the Cervino Cinemountain Film Festival. He has worked on various film sets and created short films as well as artistic performances involving lights and electronic sensors. His latest short film, Rabbits in the Cemetery (2024), won the Students’ Award at the Trento Film Festival and received a mention in the Orizzonti Vicini section.
Giulia Epifani was born in Novi Ligure in 2001 and raised in Carovigno, an Apulian town. She studied at a scientific high school and then attended a two-year course in cinema and video production in Lecce, receiving a diploma in Digital Video Design. During these years, she built her film knowledge. She had the opportunity to work on several projects as an editing assistant, including a documentary that helped her understand the importance of approaching reality. In 2022, she continued her studies at ZeLIG – School of Documentary, Television, and New Media, where she graduated in editing class in 2025. During her three years of training, she edited three projects for which she also did the live sound recording: Aria (2023), Ahínco (2024), and Averno (2025).
Mara was born in Bressanone (IT) in 1994. After completing high school with a focus on science, she dedicated several years to volunteer work in Italy and Spain, focusing on natural farming and human rights, while also taking on various jobs. In 2017 she approached documentary filmmaking with the independent collective No Borders TV, with which she created a self-produced project in Morocco. Since 2020 she has been studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence to further develop her artistic and design skills, while working in parallel as a grip on fiction film sets. In 2025 she graduated in Cinematography at ZeLIG – School for Documentary, Television and New Media. Her first short film as a camera operator, I Sommersi (2024), was selected at Visioni dal Mondo and the Zlín Film Festival. Among her recent works as a grip, Elisa (2025) directed by Leonardo Di Costanzo, was presented at the Venice International Film Festival.
The Campi Flegrei volcano becomes a metaphor for a social and political magma ready to explode. The film reflects on the uncertainty of the future and human smallness in the face of eternity, maintaining distance from the inhabitants. With a thermal effect, people appear as spectres of heat in a moving landscape, where earth, water and vapors tell a continuous cycle of life, death and rebirth that allows us to see infinity.
Country of production: Italy
Shooting Format(s): UHD 2160@25p
Original Master Format: UHD 1080@25p
Aspect ratio: 2.29:1
Screening Format: DCP, Apple ProRes or any on request
Audio Format: Stereo (2.0)
Running time: 23’
Subtitles available: English / German
Director: Filippo Maria Pontiggia
Cinematographer: Filippo Maria Pontiggia, Mara Godino
Editor: Giulia Epifani
Soundrecordist: Giulia Epifani
Sound Design / Mix: Philippe Gozlan
ZeLIG is located in Bolzano, Italy, a multilingual city where different cultures live together. The school is a place of exchange for students, teachers and film professionals from all over the world.
At ZeLIG the spoken languages are German, Italian and English. This creative approach to linguistic variety opens the gates to the international markets and to future opportunities.
