soup.film Director Marko Roth Captures the Essence of Sicily through Hand Movements

A journey through Sicily and actions core to its culture, told through the power of hand movements. Published by Nowness.

By communicating gestures that carry their own silent language, hands and the way we enact emotion through them are loaded with the culture that surrounds us. As culinary tools, and enablers of craft, they direct actions that carry close associations to the environment in which we are embedded – with every motion part of the routines and pursuits that come to define us.

In the short film ‘Hands of Sicily’, German director Marko Roth captures the essence of Sicily through hand movements, and the role they play within signifiers of its culture. Shooting on a single roll of 35mm film, cinematographer Josua Stäbler takes a minimalistic approach to document quiet yet powerful moments, inviting the limitations of analog and just four minutes of raw footage to initiate new creativity.

“The approach was to go with the flow. No schedule, no crew, no fixed locations, no expectations. We didn’t know anyone in Sicily, and somehow stumbled from one aperitivo to the next, meeting artists, farmers and nonnas. The result is very raw and very simple: an intimate portrait of Sicily.”

Relying upon chance meetings to connect with its subjects, ‘Hands of Sicily’ came together through a series of organic encounters, each reflecting authentic experiences lived across the island. Allowing its simplicity to illustrate the poetry of unplanned adventures, Roth weaves a study of Sicily from the subtleties that feed its cultural tradition, and small glimmers of movement that catch the eye.