Elvira Notari: Beyond the Silence (“Elvira Notari: Oltre il silenzio”)

2026 Italian Film Festival USA 

SPECIAL GUESTS: Director Valerio Ciriaci & Producer Antonella Di Nocera

Just three feature films, two short documentaries, and a few fragments: this is all that remains of the filmography of Elvira Notari, the first Italian female film director. While her life remains partly an enigma—she left no letters or diaries, and few photographs of her exist—today, 150 years after her birth, her work is at the center of renewed interest. 

A protagonist of the golden age of Neapolitan silent cinema, Elvira made over 60 films that, intertwining popular culture and an authentic view of city life, captivated audiences from Naples to the Little Italies of the United States. With the advent of sound, and affected by Fascist censorship, she abandoned filmmaking in 1930, and her work fell into silence. 

Today, Notari returns to the spotlight thanks to the work of scholars and artists who are recovering her legacy and reinterpreting it through the creation of new works. Intertwining historical memory and contemporary rediscovery, Elvira Notari: Beyond the Silence offers a vibrant and nuanced portrait of a film pioneer whose work resonates again in the present.

For the complete festival schedule visit italianfilmfests.org. 

The Italian Film Festival USA is presented under the auspices of the Consulate of Italy in Detroit.