Elvira Notari: Beyond Silence

163 minutes: three feature films, two short documentaries, and a handful of fragments are all that remain of the filmography of Elvira Notari, Italy’s first woman film director. But while her life remains largely a mystery—she left behind no letters or diaries, and only a few photographs survive—her work has now become the focus of a renewed interest that is lifting her from obscurity.

A leading figure in the golden age of Neapolitan silent cinema, Elvira created some sixty feature films that, weaving the passions of popular drama with unflinching depictions of urban life, captivated audiences from Naples to the Little Italies of America. Undermined by Fascist censorship and family strife, she withdrew from filmmaking in 1930. Her name slipped into silence, and most of her work was lost. Today, 150 years after her birth, Elvira returns to center stage thanks to the efforts of scholars reclaiming her place in history and artists revisiting her legacy through new forms. Interlacing historical memory with contemporary rediscovery, Elvira Notari: Beyond Silence offers a living, prismatic portrait of a cinematic pioneer whose vision continues to resonate in the present.

In Italian with Ensligh Subtitles.

Screening followed by a Q&A with director Valerio Ciriaci.