January 22, 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 oral musical tradition threatened by cultural homogenization continue to survive. Divided into eleven chapters, the film follows individuals and communities who preserve polyphonic songs, 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 in which voices and gestures emerge and fade away. It is the white of memory, poised between erasure and reemergence. In this rarefaction, traditions become minimal and fragile signs, and for this very reason all the more precious. With a rigorous aesthetic built on fixed camera shots and slow pans across faces and landscapes, the De Serios 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 pressure of the present, as an act of cultural resistance.

With the directors in attendance

Credits
Direction: 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
Running time: 120’