Films by Simona Risi

Germany 2022, 52 min
by Simona Risi

Venice embodies the original and ideal idea of a city: a place of meeting, social life and exchange. The city has remained a village, with its small stores, narrow streets and hidden courtyards, places where it is still possible to meet the few remaining inhabitants. A village that is now ruled by the tourism industry, which doesn′t seem to have eyes for the city′s hidden treasures. The documentary tells of Venice beyond tourism and clichés, seen through the eyes of those who have been called "the last Venetians", artisans and historical inhabitants of the lagoon who live the city with passion, culture and memory.

Germany, Italy 2018, 72 min
by Alessandro Soetje

The caustic, bohemian Daniele Kihlgren is the rebellious third child of a wealthy family of cement industry magnates.In the late 90s, he rides his motorbike to Santo Stefano di Sessanio, a medieval village perched on top of the rugged mountains of Abruzzi. It is love at first sight.He realizes that in a place like that he can fulfil an old dream of his –- perfectly restoring a run-down medieval town, and turning it into a hotel. The bottom line is to make a profit from the conservation of the landscape rather than from its destruction, as is so often the case in Italy.The idea is good and it works. Tourists start flocking to Santo Stefano. Emboldened by his success, Kihlgren buys houses in other old villages, and develops a similar plan for the Sassi of Matera. However, he has more an artistic than an entrepreneurial temperament. A careless financial management, combined with an almost obsessive perfectionism, soon causes trouble.In the unique, splendid scenery of Italy’s hidden treasures, director and d.o.p. Alessandro Soetje tells the story of a man who, like his own country, has a big heart but perhaps cannot love himself.