Below the Clouds

Gianfranco Rosi is the only documentary filmmaker ever to have won both the Golden Lion at Venice (Sacro GRA, 2013) and the Golden Bear at Berlin (Fire at Sea, 2016). For *Below the Clouds*, he spent three years exploring both the above-ground and underground worlds between Vesuvius and the Gulf of Naples. Despite the hustle and bustle and cheerfulness of their city, Neapolitans are always aware that Vesuvius could erupt. Here, Naples is a city where the living and the dead coexist, where subterranean forces undermine the surface and where the past constantly influences the present.

Rosi visits the ruins of Pompeii and the illegal tunnels that grave robbers dig beneath them to sell ancient artefacts on the black market. He follows children receiving extra tuition from an elderly bookseller and staff at the emergency call centre, who use a touch of humour to allay callers’ fears whenever the ground trembles once more. The passion, warmth and humour of his main characters draw you into a film that gradually gets under your skin and lingers long after it’s over.

The music is by Oscar-winner Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist), who makes sound part of the landscape itself. The stunning black-and-white cinematography is by Rosi herself. The film was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 2025 Venice Film Festival.