Ragusa, a class from the Schininà institute among the finalists at the Spello film festival

A teaching project that becomes shared memory and historical source. The 3C class of the 2022/2023 school year at the “Maria Schininà” Institute in Ragusa is among the finalists of the Spello Film Festival with an intense documentary-interview dedicated to the landing of the Americans in Sicily. The name of the winner of the short films in competition will be announced on the evening of March 13 at the Teatro Subasio, in the Umbrian town of Spello.

The 2026 edition of the festival, now in its fifteenth year, records significant numbers: 14 Italian films, 8 international, 15 documentaries, 13 TV series, 14 animated works, and 28 shorts.

The work was created in 2022/2023 under the guidance of Professor Cettina Divita, as part of the project promoted by the School Office – Territorial Area of Ragusa “The Iblean coast tells the story of the landing in Sicily on July 10, 1943.” A concrete example of active teaching and education to memory: the students went beyond the boundaries of textbooks to gather a direct testimony and transform it into an audiovisual narrative capable of uniting historical rigor, empathy, and civic sense.

The focus of the short film is the memory of eighty-something Maria Criscione who, as a child, experienced firsthand the arrival of the American troops at her family home in the Camemi area, near Marina di Ragusa. She was seven years old when, in the middle of the night, the silence was shattered by gunfire and the sudden intrusion of soldiers. First the shots, then the door being broken down, and then the entrance of the soldiers with their rifles drawn: sequences that the witness has reconstructed with clarity and emotion, returning to the boys — and today to the audience — the innocent and terrified gaze of a child overwhelmed by the brutality of war.

Interviewing her were the students Adriana Dierna, now a student at the “Enrico Fermi” Scientific High School, and Suri Lopez, now at the “Galileo Ferraris” Institute, warmly welcomed into the home of the elderly woman from Ragusa. A group of classmates worked on post-production; the editing is by Andrea Tasca, currently at the “Enrico Fermi” Scientific High School in Ragusa.

“The documentary – explains Prof. Lucia Palummeri, principal of the Maria Schininà Institute in 2023 now leading the I.C. Crispi-Vetri di Ragusa – is not just a cinematic product, but a true educational journey. Through listening to oral memory, students have been able to directly understand the human consequences of major historical events, developing critical skills, narrative abilities, and sensitivity towards the intangible heritage of the territory. In an era when direct witnesses of the Second World War are disappearing, works like this take on an even more precious value: they preserve memories that would otherwise be lost and transform them into educational tools for new generations.”

“The selection at the Festival del Cinema di Spello – declares Prof. Carmela Manganello, newly appointed principal of the Istituto Maria Schininà di Ragusa – represents an important recognition not only for the students and the school, but for the entire Ragusa community. The project demonstrates how the school can become a laboratory of active citizenship, capable of producing culture and contributing to the preservation of local historical memory. The documentary from the 3C class for the school year 2022/2023 tells not only a wartime episode but the daily dimension of war experienced by civilians, restoring dignity to the lesser-known stories that make up the grand History. A result that confirms the fundamental role of education in building collective memory and in transmitting the values of peace, awareness, and responsibility towards the past.

The Festival del Cinema di Spello is followed by many young people, and our students from classes 3A and 3D this year have been involved as the festival jury for the evaluation of audiovisual productions dedicated to the themes of Agenda 2030. A highly valuable educational experience that helps young people approach the language of cinema with critical awareness in a path of citizenship education aimed at understanding and sharing universal values.”