Francesco Colella

On 26 February 2023, a boat - an old wooden gulet - sank in Steccato di Cutro, in the province of Crotone, Calabria. Inside the boat, which left Izmir, Turkey, on February 21, there were over 180 human beings, mostly of Afghan, Pakistani, Syrian, Turkish, Somali and Iraqi origin. Women, men and children. The shipwreck claimed the lives of 94 migrants, including 34 minors. The number of missing was unknown... The boat, 150 meters from the shore, surrendered before the violence of the waves and the sharp points of the rocks. Who are the victims and survivors of the shipwreck? They are individuals who have fled their lands for a series of causes: armed conflicts, persecutions (of a religious or gender nature), poverty, climate change, the right to aspire to a better existential path, the need to rediscover dignity, to work, to study and to raise a family.

In October 1958, the Sicilian newspaper L’ORA coins the term “MAFIA” for the very first time to denounce the endemic organized crime in the region. Shortly thereafter, a bomb detonates in front of the editorial offices; only two days later the daily reappears with the headline: ‘The Mafia may threaten us, our investigation continues.’ Inspired by true events, L’ORA takes place in Palermo of the late 50 ´s and early 1960s. Newly minted Editor-in-Chief with his group of fearless journalists focus their investigation on organized crime and its reach into every corner of church and society.

The muse of Andy Warhol, Christa Päffgen, stage name Nico, singer with the band Velvet Underground and a woman of legendary beauty. She gained a new lease of life after the story everyone knows, when she launched her solo career.

Marta and her daughter Nina move to Malanotte, a small mountain village. The little girl has been suffering from hypnagogic paralysis for some time, a sleep disorder which can lead to hallucinatory states, and Marta thought that a bit of mountain air and distance from the frenetic rhythm of city life might benefit the little girl. However, the house they move into is anything but welcoming, and children are never seen playing in the streets of Malanotte. Nina’s symptoms begin to worsen from the very first night in the new house, and the little girl has more and more vivid nightmares in which a ghostly figure sits on her chest, immobilises her and steals her breath. For Marta, a single mother in a place she finds increasingly sinister, it will become harder every day to know what is best for her child.

One day, Annabi decides it’s enough. Her whole life has been affected by her fear of flying and so has her career. She is a successful actress but has turned down many roles abroad because flying is an insurmountable obstacle for her. Now, her daughter Serena has decided to study in California. Obsessed with the idea of not being a good mother, Annabi forces herself to cross the dreaded threshold of Fiumicino airport and to head to a secluded area where a course will take place. Other mysterious travelers are heading to the same place, all of them with their own baggage of fears and willing to overcome their aerophobia.