Regional Competition

In 1948, construction started on the Grande Raccordo Anulare motorway in Rome. Intended to be a single carriageway encircling Rome, it has grown into a massive six-lane highway, resembling a halo of modernization around the holy city – the title of the film is a pun on the holy grail, Sacro Graal. Director Gianfranco Rosi has spent two years following the lives of people living along the massive and highly trafficked GRA. There are several reasons why an individual would choose to live in these conditions – whether it is out of poverty or out of eccentricity – and Rosi has made it his mission to showcase the diversity of this fringe-like society, which has sprung up around the motorway. Both an exploration of outcasts and an allegory about modern civilization and the future of Rome, documentary Sacro GRA was awarded the Golden Lion at the 70th Venice International Film Festival, the first documentary ever to receive the award.