Biografilm Festival Opens with Valentina Pedicini's Documentary 'Faith'

The 16th edition of the Biografilm Festival runs from June 5 to 15, 2020, online via MyMovies, opening with Valentina Pedicini's documentary 'Faith'. The film returns Pedicini to documentary filmmaking after a fiction detour ('Dove cadono le ombre'). It follows a small community of Christian monks in the Marche region who practice martial arts under a Kung Fu master, living a life of faith, freedom, and radical choices. Pedicini avoids interviews, instead embedding with the group for about five months with a minimal crew. Shot in black and white for narrative and symbolic reasons, the film explores time, discipline, and sacrifice. The community, founded in 1998 by a master who recruited young martial arts champions as 'Warrior Monks' and 'Guardian Mothers', continues its path of discipline and meditation. The documentary features techno music as a disruptive element. Pedicini cites Buzzati's 'The Tartar Steppe' as an influence, distinguishing the film from Paulo Coelho's narratives.