THE BODY AND THE NAME

IT / 2023 / 52' / 4K / Italian, English

SD Cinematografica / Venicefilm / Rai / Directed by Daniele Cini

Worldwide rights available except Italy

TAGS

Crime, WW2, Italian, foreigners, German, Polish, UK, Israel, Christians, Jews

SYNOPSIS

The story of the Fosse Ardeatine massacre is one of the most tragic and poignant chapters of World War II, especially in Italy. On March 24, 1944, 335 Italian civilians were brutally murdered by Nazi forces in retaliation for the killing of 33 German soldiers by Italian partisans. The victims were taken from prisons and the streets, many chosen at random, and executed in the Ardeatine caves near Rome. This massacre has been commemorated yearly, yet for many decades, several of the victims remained unidentified. The collaborative efforts of the three women—a documentary filmmaker, an archivist, and a forensic biologist—brought closure to some of these unsolved mysteries.