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FIPADOC 2026

Review: Agnus Dei

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- Massimiliano Camaiti delivers an elegant, contemplative and intimate debut feature documentary set in the heart of the Santa Cecilia in Trastevere monastery in Rome

Review: Agnus Dei

There is no message, nor messenger, because this is about an encounter. Echoing these liturgical words, which are heard rather frequently in Agnus Dei [+see also:
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]
by Italian director Massimiliano Camaiti (who immersed himself for several months in a Catholic Benedictine convent), this first feature-length documentary, unveiled in the Biennale College Cinema section of the 82nd Venice Film Festival and in international competition this week at FIPADOC, stands out for its delicacy and observation, without seeking to impose a point of view. Patiently capturing the atmosphere of a place of great visual beauty, bathed in a sense of timelessness and a daily life rooted in simplicity and punctuated by prayer and work (in accordance with the rule of the order's founder), the film follows in the footsteps of Philippe Gröning's 2005 film Into Great Silence [+see also:
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interview: Philip Groening
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]
, but adds a surprising element that structures the entire narrative: the story of two lambs, sent there shortly after birth. It is therefore somewhat similar to Jerzy Skolimowski's EO [+see also:
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(2022) and György Pálfi's Hen [+see also:
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interview: György Pálfi
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(2025) in that the viewer discovers the life of the Santa Cecilia in Trastevere monastery in Rome, a microcosm with millennia-old traditions isolated from the world.

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After being ripped away from their mother and a flock of sheep in the countryside at birth, our two very young lamb protagonists are lugged to the capital, decorated with ribbons and carried in a flower-filled basket to their new home, where they are blessed before being entrusted to their new “mother”: Sister Vincenza, a woman in her 70s, who sets them up in a shed at the back of the (superb) garden and feeds them with a bottle, a task she is clearly accustomed to, as evidenced by photographs with former residents. What is it all about? Where will these two innocent, snow-white animals end up? They grow fond of their guardian, following her every move or exploring the perimeter without permission until she finds them and gently brings them back to their "room". Meanwhile, the days repeat themselves at the monastery, in a series of unchanging activities; from cooking to church, prayers to meals, gardening to weaving and bookbinding, all to the sound of religious readings or Vatican Radio news reports detailing Pope Francis' health problems. Five months later, in the spring, we discover the final chapter of the story, the reason for the presence of these lambs, but also a completely unexpected side to Sister Vincenza...

Sacrifice, motherhood, traditions: it is a world and a tempo radically opposed to the speed and agitation of modernity, which the director (who already made a name for himself in 2021 with the Netflix feature film Caught By a Wave [+see also:
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) calmly and respectfully portrays. The 4:3 format and beautiful (static) shots by director of photography Ilya Sapeha (Futura [+see also:
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) do justice to the magnificent setting, with a touch of claustrophobia to embody the voluntary confinement of these nuns devoted to a circle of repetitive activities. An atmosphere of silence, perfectly complemented by music from Husk Husk, sets the tone for a peaceful (with particular attention paid to the evolution of nature in the garden) and subtly touching documentary, like a humble journey to another place where time stands still.
Agnus Dei was produced by Cinemaundici with the Biennale College Cinema and Rai Cinema. True Colours handles international sales.

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(Translated from French)

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