Italian filmmaker Valentina Pedicini dies at 42

Valentina Pedicini, an Italian documentary and fiction filmmaker, died at age 42 after battling illness. She was known for her observational style and humanistic approach. Her feature debut "Dal Profondo" (2013) won the Solinas Prize, the Rome Film Festival award, and Nastro d'Argento, and was nominated for David di Donatello. Her short "Era Ieri" (2016) was selected for Venice International Critics' Week. In 2017, her fiction feature "Dove cadono le ombre" premiered at Venice's Giornate degli Autori, based on the true story of 2,000 Jenisch children taken by Pro Juventute between 1926 and 1986 and subjected to medical experiments. Her most international film "Faith" (2020), a black-and-white documentary about a community of warrior monks in the Marche hills, premiered at IDFA Amsterdam and was praised by Variety. It screened at Berlinale, Biografilm Festival, CPH:DOX, and festivals in Gothenburg, Vilnius, and Barcelona, where it won the DOCS Barcelona award. It was also nominated for Nastro d'Argento DOC. Pedicini graduated in directing from Zelig International School of Documentary. Producer Donatella Palermo remembered her words from "Dal Profondo": "breathe, breathe slowly, don't be afraid; soon your eyes will get used to the dark."