Sceneggiatura / Screenplay: Gaetano Crivaro, Silvia Perra, Ferruccio Goia, Alberto Diana. Da un’idea di / Based on an original idea by: Nicola Contini. Fotografia / Photography: Federica Ortu. Montaggio / Editing: Emanuele Malloci, Gaetano Crivaro, Felice d’Agostino. Suono / Sound: Andrea Oppo, Emanuele Pusceddu, Roberto Cois. Produzione / Produced by: Mommotty. Con il sostegno di / Supported by: MiC-Direzione Generale Cinema e Audiovisivo, Regione Autonoma della Sardegna, Fondazione Sardegna Film Commission.
In Sardinia, there are still three operational penal colonies in Europe, hidden in almost inaccessible locations. In these open-air workhouses, inmates serve their sentences by dividing their time between their cells and labor. They cultivate the land, raise livestock, and perform maintenance tasks on the structures where they are confined. In Isili, Mamone, and Is Arenas, most of the inmates are migrants. We know little about their backgrounds, the crimes they have been convicted of, or how long they will remain isolated from the outside world. Work marks the slow and stretched passage of time in captivity, where humans and animals live in close proximity. In the former penal colony of Asinara, when the relationship between jailer and prisoner breaks down, a new dynamic of dominance emerges from the ruins of the abandoned prisons, setting free animals against humans. Winner of the Marco Zucchi Award at the Semaine de la Critique of the Locarno Film Festival 2025
Gaetano Crivaro (episodio / episode Isili)
Gaetano Crivaro (Crotone, Italy 1983) is a documentary filmmaker based in Cagliari. His works have been showcased at important national and international festivals. His film Rondò final was screened in competition at Visions du Reel in 2021.
Silvia Perra (episodio / episode Mamone)
Silvia Perra (Cagliari, Italy 1988) graduated in Directing from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. Her short films La Finestra (2016) and Il Rito (2020) have been selected at festivals such as the Torino Film Festival, Angers Premiers Plans and Dokufest, among others. As an author, she received the ARTE Award at the MIA Market in Rome.
Ferruccio Goia (episodio / episode Is Arenas)
Ferruccio Goia (Formia, Italy 1982) has a degree in film studies and primarily works on social and anthropological documentaries. Among his works, My Private Zoo (2012) premiered at Festival dei Popoli and won Best Film at Docucity festival. He holds a permanent position as a consultant at the interdisciplinary unit Medielab, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.
Alberto Diana (episodio / episode Asinara)
Alberto Diana (Iglesias, Italy 1989) graduated from the Master in Documental de Creación at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, after obtaining a degree in Literature from the University of Cagliari. In 2019, his medium-length documentary Red Mud premiered at the Torino Film Festival. In 2023, he directed his first fiction short film Frarìa, which was also presented at the Torino Film Festival.
