NFMLA InFocus: Puglia
Credit: C/O

A superhero version of Jesus and a kaleidoscope love story were at the heart of NewFilmmakers Los Angeles’ InFocus: Puglia Cinema Program in Italy this year.

The inaugural InFocus: Puglia Cinema program was produced with Siliva Bizio as part of the NFMLA Monthly Film Festival. It was presented in partnership with the Apulia Film Commission.

The multi-day programming began with InFocus: Puglia Cinema, a collection of new and exciting work by short film directors from the Italy’s Puglia region that spanned genres and highlighted the diversity of locations in the region.

The program also included Puglia Cinema in Hollywood, a project created by the Apulia Film Commission Foundation, Puglia Region and PugliaPromozione.

NFMLA showcases films by filmmakers of all backgrounds throughout the year in addition to its special InFocus programming, which celebrates diversity, inclusion, and region. All filmmakers are welcome and encouraged to submit their projects which will be considered for all upcoming NFMLA festivals, regardless of the InFocus programming. 

Also Read: Pregnancy-Phobia and a Teenage Hitchhiker Highlight NFMLA’s InFocus: International Animation Program

NFMLA InFocus: Puglia Cinema Program

Here is some information on the filmmakers and their films, as well as their video interviews with NFMLA.

“San Vitu Rock” directed by Fausto Romano 

About Fausto: Romano studied acting at the Accademia Nazionale d’Arte Drammatica. He is the author and director of the award-winning short films: Cratta; La giraffa senza gamba, No one leaves at Christmas, and San Vitu Rock. Among his other work is: “Grazie per aver viaggiato con noi” (2013); “Anche i pesci hanno il mal di mare” (2016); the thriller “Ninnanò” (2019), the stories “Corro da quando – confessioni umoristiche di runners come te” (2021) and poetry collection “Haiku Salentini” (2022). He lives between Italy and Portugal.

About “San Vitu Rock”: The story of the sacred rock of San Vito, a stone that has the power to fulfill the desire of women who want to get pregnant.

Watch the NFMLA interview with Fausto Romano, the director of “San Vitu Rock”:

“The Fisherwoman” directed by Lucia Lorè

About Lucia: Lucia Lorè studied Cultural Heritage at the University of Salento. She studied filmmaking at the Link Campus University of Rome and completed her studies with a Master’s Degree in Screenwriting at La Sapienza University of Rome with a thesis in gender equality and writing practices in Italian cinema: The ‘Heroine’s Journey’ as a new narrative paradigm.

She is currently attending a First Level Master Degree in Gender Studies at the University of Roma Tre. Her first work as a screenwriter, Imagining T, was on display at the Peltz Gallery (London) and at the CCCB (Barcelona) in 2018. She wrote and directed Heroes, a music video reviewed by Rolling Stone Italy. She also acts in cinema, TV and theater.

About “The Fisherwoman”: The drama of a woman who struggles to recover her childhood memories takes place in the family of a small fishing community. A fight for self-determination, to break those cages imposed by society and manage to become the first fisherwoman in a world of fishermen. 

Watch the NFMLA interview with Lucia Lorè, the director of “The Fisherwoman”:

“Albertine” directed by Maria Guidone

About Maria: After earning a PhD in philosophy, Maria attended the École Supérieure des Études Cinématographiques in Paris, where she directed her first short films. Meanwhile, Maria worked as an assistant director and editor for the TV series “Grand Art” produced by ARTE FRANCE. Since 2010, she has been the Creative Director of guidONE APULIA factory, a factory of artists experimenting operations of semantic redetermination of South Italy’s imagery.

Her short-films, “Keep You Around” (2013) and “Swing” (2016), explore the family theme and the space-time dimension in love relationships. “Keep You Around” won the Best Female Director award at the Renaissance Film Festival Amsterdam-London. Her latest short-film, “Albertine Where are you?”, inspired by Proust’s Recherche and shot on 16mm film, was awarded Best Director at the 79th Mostra Internazionale del Cinema di Venezia and Best Film at Mostra de Cinema Italià de Barcelona. If Not Winter is her first feature film and is currently in development.

About “Albertine”: A contemporary reading of the Recherche du Temps Perdu, involving the viewer in a kaleidoscopic love story in which lovers bluff, escape, and disguise themselves by exchanging places, roles, and genres, aware that the heart of things cannot be captured, but only glimpsed.

Watch the NFMLA interview with Maria Guidone, the director of “Albertine”:

“Superjesus” directed by Vito Palumbo

About Vito: Vito Palumbo was born in Agropoli, Italy. After graduating from high school, he moved to Rome where he studied acting at the Pietro Scharoff Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 2009, his short film “ICE SCREAM” was produced by Christian Halsey Solomon, starring Laura Harring and Spencer Treat Clark. In 2015, his short film “CHILD K” received national cultural recognition from MIBAC and won the special prize from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Critics at the Nastri D’Argento awards.

In 2018, he created “U MUSCHITTIERI,” a short film about the childhood of national hero Giovanni Falcone, which received over twenty international awards and aired on Rai television. His latest short film, “SuperJesus,” produced by MoveArt, was released in 2022. Palumbo is also a trainer and teacher of acting, directing, and film editing at various institutions in Rome, Bari, Lecce, and Taranto, and he teaches at the audiovisual and multimedia production laboratory at the University of Bari.

About “SuperJesus”: Carlo, a sick nine-year-old from Taranto, idolizes Jesus as his superhero. Ugo, an atheist and communist steelworker on furlough, auditions to play Jesus to bring joy to Carlo, becoming Super Jesus.

Watch the NFMLA interview with Vito Palumbo the director of, “SuperJesus”:

“Lea E Il Fenicottero” directed by Antonio De Palo 

About Antonio: Antonio De Palo was born in Molfetta in Puglia. After studying Communication Sciences at the University of Bari, he studied film directing at the Rosebud European Academy of Cinema and Television in Rome. In 2019 he’s among the 10 talents selected for the second edition of the Media Talents on Tour organized by Europa Creativa MEDIA. His research involves the creation of five short films in which he dedicates himself to a personal experimentation on aesthetics. The short film “The Abjurants” won two Nastri d’Argento for the best leading actresses of the 2020 Corti d’Argento edition.

About “Lea E Il Fenicottero”: The oppression against transgender people by the Italian Government turns the relentless decline of a transgender inmate into her opportunity for redemption.


Watch the NFMLA interview with Antonio De Palo director of “Lea E Il Fenicottero”:

Main Image: A still from the film “Albertine” directed by Maria Guidone