Gianfranco Rosi's 'Sotto le nuvole' premieres at Venice Film Festival

Gianfranco Rosi's new documentary 'Sotto le nuvole' premieres in competition at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, with theatrical release on September 18 via 01 Distribution. The film explores the Gulf of Naples, Vesuvius, and the Campi Flegrei area, capturing a suspended black-and-white vision of lesser-known Naples. Rosi spent three years filming at the horizon of Vesuvius, seeking traces of history and everyday life. The project originated from a conversation with filmmaker Pietro Marcello, who expressed interest in making a film in Pompeii but lacked Rosi's dedication to staying in one place for years. Rosi recalls director Bernardo Bertolucci telling him that his work captures 'what is not seen, the off-screen.' The film features residents, devotees, tourists, archaeologists, museum curators, a street teacher running after-school programs, firefighters, police chasing tomb raiders, and a Japanese archaeological team excavating Villa Augustea for two decades. It also shows Syrian ships unloading Ukrainian grain in Torre Annunziata, pilgrims crawling at the Sanctuary of the Madonna dell'Arco, and the Circumvesuviana train crossing the landscape. A promotional image shows Rosi with his camera observing Vesuvius, evoking Caspar David Friedrich's 'Wanderer above the Sea of Fog.' Rosi previously won the Golden Lion at Venice for 'Sacro GRA,' the first documentary to receive that honor, awarded by a jury chaired by Bertolucci.