Fresh from garnering the top award at the Manhattan Shorts film festival is Uerra—a poetic look at family life in southern Italy after the fall of the fascism.

Manhattan Shorts, if you’re not aware, is an interesting festival in that it simultaneously screens a select program of international films at hundreds of venues all over the world. Places like Europe, Australia, Africa, even Alaska! The viewers voted on their favorite and selected Uerra. Good choice. The film has very rich characters for a short film with an excellent job done on acting.

This is Paolo Sassanelli’s first time directing a short film, coming himself from the world of acting. Manhattan Shorts has a good interview with him about Uerra. Here’s a snippet:

What is the message you want people to take from your film?

That there is great poetry in the world and you can find a poem in your life as well. And it does not matter whether you can’t read or write. There is poetry in everyday life. That’s what I try to say with my film. This is for my grandfather.

UPDATE: No longer available.