Below the Clouds
Below the Clouds is a 2025 Italian documentary film written and directed by Gianfranco Rosi. An homage to the city of Naples, it is Rosi's third documentary about everyday life in Italy, following 2013's Sacro GRA and 2016's Fire at Sea.
The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on 30 August 2025, where it won the Special Jury Prize. It was theatrically released in Italy by 01 Distribution on 18 September 2025.
Premise
A portrait of the city of Naples, the film presents fragments of the daily lives of the people who live and work in the city.Production
The film was shot in and around Naples over three years. It is Rosi's first black-and-white documentary feature in over thirty years, following Boatman about the Ganges river in India. Academy Award winner Daniel Blumberg provided the musical score for the documentary, marking his first collaboration with Rosi.Release
The Match Factory owns the international sales rights to the film. A trailer was released on 22 July 2025. The film premiered in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival. It will also be screened at the BFI London Film Festival. It was theatrically released in Italy on 18 September 2025. Mubi handles the distribution rights to the film in North and Latin America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey, India, Australia and New Zealand, and will give it an awards-qualifying run in the fall of 2025, followed by a theatrical release sometime in the first quarter of 2026.It will compete in Stockholm Documentary Competition of the 2025 Stockholm International Film Festival on November 14, 2025.