22 January, 6:30 PM, MIC

Ephemeral Canon

by Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio

A journey through an underground and almost invisible Italy, far from dominant narratives, where forms of orally transmitted musical traditions survive despite the threat of cultural homogenization. Divided into eleven chapters, the film follows people and communities who safeguard polyphonic chants, artisanal techniques, and ancient instruments, revealing a deeply rooted yet fragile sonic sensibility. White — the muffled white of snow and the metaphorical white of silence — is not a color but a condition: a threshold where voices and gestures emerge and fade. It is the white of memory, poised between erasure and reappearance. In this rarefied space, traditions become minimal and fragile signs, all the more precious because of their delicacy. With a rigorous aesthetic made of static shots and slow panoramas over faces and landscapes, the De Serio brothers compose a visual meditation on time, on the labor of music, and on the transmission of gestures and knowledge. The film conveys the strength of tradition without idealizing it, showing how these practices continue to generate meaning despite the pressures of the present, as an act of cultural resistance.

In the presence of the directors

Credits
Director: Gianluca De Serio, Massimiliano De Serio
Screenplay: Gianluca De Serio, Massimiliano De Serio
Cinematography: Piero Basso
Editing: Diana Giromini
Sound Design: Mirko Guerra
Producer: Alessandro Borrelli
Executive Producer: Alessandro Borrelli
Production: La Sarraz Pictures
Country: Italy
Year: 2025
Duration: 120’