On the evening of July 24, a former military barracks in Quartu Sant’Elena will transform into a cinema of inclusion. The occasion is the world premiere of SVELA, a documentary feature by director Alessandro Pulloni that distils months of workshops, rehearsals, performances and personal breakthroughs into a single, powerful narrative.
The film is the culmination of Storie Voci e Luoghi Accessibili (Stories, Voices and Accessible Places), a multidisciplinary project conceived by Impatto Teatro under the artistic direction of Karim Galici, and backed by Quartu Sant’Elena’s municipal social cohesion fund and the Fondazione di Sardegna’s “Volunteering, Philanthropy and Charity” programme. What began as a bold wager — that a city without barriers enriches everyone — has become a feature-length testament to the transformative power of art.
Since February, dozens of people with disabilities have taken part in intensive workshops spanning dance, theatre, videomaking, creative writing and even circus arts. Each discipline served as a gateway: a space to confront isolation, reclaim physical presence, and dismantle the psychological walls that often prove more isolating than architectural ones. The workshops were not therapeutic exercises in the clinical sense — they were creative laboratories where ability, not disability, became the operating principle.
Pulloni’s camera did not simply observe from a distance. The director embedded himself in the process, allowing his lens to become both witness and accomplice. The result is a film that oscillates between documentary realism and cinematic poetry — a reportage of rare sensitivity that captures not just what happened, but what it felt like to be there.
SVELA traces a profound human transformation. Shyness gives way to self-discovery; hesitation yields to movement; individual voices merge into a chorus. The participants reclaimed not only their bodies on stage, but their place within the community. Dance, theatre, writing and video worked in constant dialogue, offering each participant a total expressive space where abilities could flourish and self-trust could be rebuilt.
The film becomes the custodian of this journey — a document that insists disability is not a limitation but a vital creative resource, capable of reclaiming both inner and urban space.
Alessandro Pulloni brings a rich technical and artistic background to his feature debut. Having worked on award-winning international projects (including Le Cicogne di Chernobyl by Karim Galici) and edited for historic Rai programmes such as Geo and Kilimangiaro, Pulloni demonstrates a confident command of visual storytelling. After his short film Respiro Antico (2024) and the series Silva Manna for Videolina (2025), SVELA marks his arrival as a feature filmmaker — a work where technical precision meets narrative ambition on an international scale.
The evening will be hosted and moderated by journalist Maria Chiara Cugusi. Following the screening, the night will close with a toast offered by the prestigious Cantine Santadi.
But SVELA is not staying in Quartu. After its national premiere, the film is set to travel across Italian regions, European capitals and international festivals, carrying what its creators call the “SVeLA Quartu model” — a replicable example of genuine inclusion and cultural best practice. Impatto Teatro has launched a fundraising campaign to subtitle the film in multiple languages and secure international distribution. Admission is free, but advance booking is recommended at impattoteatro@gmail.com.
—
SVELA reminds us that inclusion is not about accommodating difference — it is about recognising that difference, when given the right stage, becomes something far greater: a collective renaissance.
Leave a Reply