Life begins before daybreak on Gorgona, a remote island situated 19 nautical miles off the coast of Livorno, Tuscany. The stables are unlocked, the tractors are set in motion, everyday activities resume in the fields, with the milking of the cows, of the goats and sheep, the maintenance of the roads and buildings. In the bakery, the rolls and focaccias that supply the only store are being prepared as a flock of sheep skirt the rows of vines to reach the pasture.

The busy men engrossed in these tasks are the inmates of Gorgona, the last remaining agricultural penal colony still active in Europe. The institution encompasses the entirety of this island, whose sole inhabitants are the inmates, the educators and the prison staff. The only exception is 92-year-old Luisa Citti, the last remaining year-round resident and the direct descendant of one of the families that populated the island in the nineteenth century.

To be admitted to this “five-star penitentiary”, a set of precise requirements is required: no ties to organized crime, no issues of drug addiction, and a final sentence lengthy enough to allow for the re-educational program to be effective.

The eye of Tibaldi’s camera leads the viewer into an unfiltered immersion in the lives of five inmates, an observation of their daily routines, of their rapport with one-another and with the educators, and of the challenging path that lies before them, in this reality immersed in breath-taking natural beauty.

GORGONA (Italy, USA | 2022 | 90 min | color) In Italian, Arabian, Albanian with English subtitles

Join us for a screening of GORGONA, and a talk by director Antonio Tibaldi and members of the crew at the City College of NY, Shepard Hall. 259 Convent Avenue, Rm 291 on Wedneday Dec 11th at 6 pm. Corner of Convent avenue and 140th street. #1 to 137th Street, ABCD to 145th Street.

Presented by the MCA department and the Documentary Forum at CCNY.

Questions to documentary@ccny.cuny.edu .

RSVP to: https://bit.ly/4f0wpQO