2025 - 46' – Italian (Available subtitles: Italian, German, English)
A young woman returns to her childhood home to investigate a family history shrouded in silence. Digging into the past, she tries to awaken a dialogue with her father and reflect on her identity.
Simona Palmieri was born in Bari in 1997. In 2022 she graduated from the Accademia del Cinema Ragazzi and in 2025 she graduated in Directing at the ZeLIG documentary film school in Bolzano. Here she made the short film ‘Stanze’, which participated in competition at Diagonale - Festival des österreichischen Films and at the Trento Film Festival where it received a special mention, and the short film ‘Ahínco’, selected by the National Short Film Centre for Dieci Corti in giro per il Mondo 2025.
My name is Giovanni Bez, I’m 26 years old. I graduated from the University of Bologna in Communication, writing my thesis on the documentary genre. Then I studied semiotics, also in Bologna, with good results but little enthusiasm. So I moved to Zelig in Bolzano to learn how to create movies instead of only analysing them. During the first year we worked on our first short films. The first was 'Stavo Solo Crescendo', which we were lucky enough to show at the “Museion” in Bolzano for six months in the Dan Graham pavilion, and the second was 'Bostrico' with the special presence of writer Matteo Righetto, in which I was director. I choose editing as the route here in Zelig because I’m very interested in creating a narration and a dramaturgy starting from the ready-made material and try to find new ways to tell the story and also because I can learn how to capture and design the sound in a cinematography way.
Driven by natural curiosity and a sociable nature, Krystof Iobstraibizer completed his studies in graphic arts at the B. Pascal Art School in Reggio Emilia in 2021. He spent three months in Malta working as an intern in the camera dept. on the set of a crime series for TVM (Maltese public broadcaster). During the summer of 2022, he took an intensive German course in Berlin and in 2025, he graduated from ZeLIG - School of Documentary, Television and New Media in Bolzano, specialising in cinematography. During the three-year course, he directed the photography for three projects: A Commons View (2023), Conigli al Cimitero (2024) and Nóstos (2025). During his training, Krystof had the opportunity to undertake internships at Eagle Pictures, Lumiére Film and the rental company Maier Bros. GmbH. Today, he continues to explore the fusion between the principles of narrative documentary and the unpredictability of wildlife documentary, seeking to convey the uniqueness of the symbiosis that arises between a community and its environment.
This film was born out of a casual change of direction and a long unspoken need: to bring unexpressed emotions to light. The story of a family and its events do not dissipate over time, but stay as shadows that accompany us. I wanted to look at those shadows and I searched for answers in the past to questions of the present.
Country of production: Italy
Shooting Format(s): 4K 2160@25p
Original Master Format: UHD 2160@25p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Screening Format: DCP, Apple ProRes or any on request
Audio Format: Stereo (2.0)
Running time: 45’38"
Subtitles available: Italian / German / English
Director: Simona Palmieri
Cinematographer: Krystof Iobstraibizer
Editor: Giovanni Bez
Soundrecordist: Giovanni Bez, Vito Mangialardi
Sound Design / Mix: Stefano Bernardi, Matilde Ramini
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.
