Documentary Shorts by Vittorio De Seta
12 Episodes
Heralded by Martin Scorsese as “an anthropologist who speaks with the voice of a poet,” Italian director Vittorio De Seta produced a string of extraordinary short documentaries in the 1950s that distill their subjects to pure cinema. Shooting in vivid color in the rural villages of Sicily, Sardinia, and Calabria, De Seta captured the rhythms and rituals of everyday life among the fishermen, miners, shepherds, and farmers who continued to live and work according to the preindustrial traditions of their ancestors. Presented without voiceover so that the rhapsodic visuals speak for themselves, these miniature marvels stand as essential, ennobling records of a vanished world.
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05:05Episode 1Gian Luca Farinelli on Vittorio De Seta
Episode 1
This introduction by Il Cinema Ritrovato film festival chief Gian Luca Farinelli was recorded in 2020.
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16:01Episode 2Vittorio De Seta Interview
Episode 2
In 2006, filmmaker Vittorio De Seta spoke with Il Cinema Ritrovato film festival chief Gian Luca Farinelli about his documentary work. Excerpts from that discussion are presented here.
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10:35Episode 3Golden Parable
Episode 3
Directed by Vittorio De Seta • 1955 • Italy
Filming amid the flaxen wheat fields of Sicily, Vittorio De Seta documents the everyday rituals of farmers during harvest time.
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11:05Episode 4Sea Countrymen
Episode 4
Directed by Vittorio De Seta • 1955 • Italy
The rhythms of the sea set the tempo for this vivid account of a day in the lives of Sicilian fishermen.
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11:14Episode 5Islands of Fire
Episode 5
Directed by Vittorio De Seta • 1954 • Italy
This prize-winning short is a poetic portrait of life on the coast of Sicily before, during, and following a volcanic eruption.
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10:14Episode 7Easter in Sicily
Episode 7
Directed by Vittorio De Seta • 1955 • Italy
Vittorio De Seta captures the music and pageantry of an Easter celebration in Sicily.
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11:06Episode 8The Age of Swordfish
Episode 8
Directed by Vittorio De Seta • 1954 • Italy
Vittorio De Seta’s rhythmic editing adds drama to this chronicle of a Sicilian spearfishing expedition.
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11:28Episode 9Orgosolo’s Shepherds
Episode 9
Directed by Vittorio De Seta • 1958 • Italy
The striking landscapes of rural Sardinia provide the backdrop to this lyrical look at the hardscrabble lives of the region’s shepherds in winter.
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11:23Episode 10Fishing Boats
Episode 10
Directed by Vittorio De Seta • 1958 • Italy
The unpredictable nature of the sea governs the world of Sicilian fishermen as they work, rest, and seek refuge from a storm.
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11:14Episode 11A Day in Barbagia
Episode 11
Directed by Vittorio De Seta • 1958 • Italy
From sunrise to sunset, Vittorio De Seta chronicles the lives of Sardinian women who look after both home and fields while their shepherd husbands are away tending their flocks.
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21:04Episode 12The Forgotten
Episode 12
Directed by Vittorio De Seta • 1959 • Italy
Vittorio De Seta travels to a remote province in southern Italy to capture a unique celebration known as the “Feast of Silver.”
