Winner of the FIPRESCI award, this haunting portmanteau from director Marco Bellocchio is a shrewd social commentary steeped in striking gothic imagery. Set in a convent-prison, the film shifts from past to present, crafting a story that is a love letter to Italy’s past and a critique of its stasis.

Once again, a mother-son relationship takes center stage in Marco Bellocchio’s volatile short, in which a revival of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci erupts in explosive confrontations. Operatic in its expression, this vortex of raw emotions evokes the eternal tension between money and art-making.