STANZA 52   [ ITALY 2016 . 13 min ]

In a luxurious hotel in Naples, there is something magical and mysterious about room 52. The only person aware of this is Serena, an eccentric fifty-year-old chambermaid who still has a smile on her face despite a difficult life. As she cleans, Serena asks the room about the fate of her deceased husband in the afterlife and the room appears, somewhat confusedly, to answer her. A surreal dialogue ensues, during which Serena talks about her own and other people’s sins, and frankly tackles a fundamental theme of Christian morality.

Compassion is the base of morality, but often we fail to forgive ourselves and others because we forget about it. I wanted to explore this theme with a certain lightness, filming the actress up close in order to highlight her character’s strenuous work and her feelings of pity and hope despite the suffering that life can cause.

Maurizio Braucci