Maziar Firouzi

The Girl From Tomorrow

It’s 1965 and Lia, a spirited young woman living in a small Sicilian town, is initially attracted to Lorenzo, the son of the most prominent (and possibly Mafia-tied) local family. His possessiveness eventually repels her. But soon after, he appears with his cronies to kidnap, rape and force her into a shotgun marriage, all with the collusion of the town’s authorities. Lia and her family refuse to accept this barbaric ‘tradition’ and, despite the constant intimidation and violence, they take their fight for Lia’s rights to court.

The Bone Breakers

Inside a warehouse in Palermo, a group of people smashes a man’s arm to pieces with a wheelie bag packed with weights. This is the method used by an amateur criminal organization that fractures the limbs of its willing victims before staging fake accidents and raking in the insurance payouts. Vincenzo recruits the individuals from among the down-and-outs that haunt the city streets, where Luisa is a habitué, since she gets her crack there. Vincenzo’s problems suddenly get worse, though, after a series of mistakes shut him out of the gang, and Luisa is now his only chance: he convinces her to have her bones broken.

The Hunter

The story of Saverio Barone, a young prosecutor who in the early nineties became the protagonist of the “caccia alla Mafia” (Mafia-hunt) immediately following the Capaci and Via D'Amelio bombings. Inspired by the true story of the anti-Mafia magistrate Alfonso Sabella.

The Stuff of Dreams

Members of the Camorra on the run and actors seeking for authority meet after a shipwreck on an island-prison. The theatre turns into a free zone where everyone may not be able to recover their social role but for sure their humanity. Somebody can even get love back. Shakespeare and Eduardo De Filippo blend together in a picaresque comedy full of coup de théâtre.

The Healer

In the shadowed aftermath of the Second World War, Giovanni Velasques returns to his quaint hometown nestled in the breathtaking landscapes of Sicily’s mountains, bearing the scars of war inside and out. Haunted by wartime traumas, Giovanni’s tumultuous spirit finds solace in the wisdom of an elderly lady who unveils his extraordinary gift: the ability to harness the spirit of a departed soul and heal the tormented. But as Giovanni’s reputation as a healer grows, he finds himself on a collision course with two formidable adversaries: the church and the mafia. Torn between his mystical calling and societal pressures, he’s pushed into a corner of isolation, forcing him to forsake his magical calling and embrace the expected life of a family man and farmer. But will that sacred soul, worshipped like a god, truly be lost to oblivion?

Black Parthenope

Hidden Identity

A cold-lighted Palermo of the 90's. A single day. Unnamed characters slide towards the fulfillment of their destiny. A story of causes and effects, in which crimes affect not only the victims, but the perpetrators too. And from which no one, in a way or another, will stay unscathed.

Io sto bene

Antonio has spent his whole life away from Italy, his home country. He crosses paths with Leo, a young Italian artist who is trying to make it abroad. The old man and the young woman's destinies mirror each other. Memories from the past are awoken and end up offering a more peaceful future to the both of them.

Arsa

Non è una bufala

Renzo, 40, lives alone in an apartment that has turned into a kind of bunker. It's been a long time since he leaves home and the only source of livelihood are pizzas and supplì that come home. Convinced that jihadist terrorism is on the verge of attacking Italy, he decides to take justice on his own by sending a bombshell to the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, a nation guilty, in his opinion, of financing terrorists. Not everything will run smoothly as he had expected.