Documentary, 53′ – 2026

“Can wonder be the key to experiencing a deeper connection with life?”

A poetic and contemplative journey weaving together the voices of seven Italian women writers around the theme of wonder and the sacredness of life. Through words and images, reflections and intuitions, The Wonder invites us to rediscover a more conscious and profound way of inhabiting the world.

Directed by Joshua Wahlen, Alessandro Seidita

With: Barbara Alberti, Chandra Candiani, Roberta Dapunt, Claudia Fabris, Grazia Marchianò, Antonietta Potente, Susanna Tamaro

Supervision and research: Francesco Occhetto
From an idea by Valeria Malgieri, Francesco Occhetto, Alessandro Seidita
Editing: Ylenia Busolli
Cinematography: Alessandro Seidita, Joshua Wahlen
Music: Julian De La Chica
Soprano: Yana Mann
Lyrics: Susanna Campos Fonseca
Collaborazione regia/fotografia: Alessio Consoli, Loredana Grasso, Laura Pantaleo, Marta Passalacqua
Color Correction: Donato Canosa
Sound designer: Giovanni Corona
A project by: Uroboro Project, Arte Senza Fine
A collective production by: PDB Community, Alessandro Seidita, Joshua Wahlen
In co-production with: Arte Senza Fine
With the support and the collaboration of: La Palestra della Meditazione
With the support of: Film Commission Torino Piemonte
With the support of: Banca Etica
With the patronage of: Comune di Palermo
With the collaboration of: Anima Mundi, Produzioni dal Basso
Distribution: Aplysia

Directors’ Notes
Inspiration. A state of enthusiasm, of imaginative impulse, a feeling that drives the individual towards the act of creation. In many cultures it is believed to be the influence of a divine spirit acting upon men and women through revelations of truths or realities invisible to most. But inspiration is not the privilege of poets, artists and prophets — it is an experience that concerns each of us, and one that can be translated into an attitude of openness and wonder towards life, a way of inhabiting the world poetically, grasping the preciousness of every moment.

To explore this vision, we decided to meet several Italian women writers and poets and engage them in conversation about the experience of life understood as a creative act and a place of continuous inspiration.

Our companions on this journey are poets Chandra Candiani and Roberta Dapunt, writers Susanna Tamaro and Barbara Alberti, performer and author Claudia Fabris, theologian and writer Antonietta Potente, and orientalist Grazia Marchianò. The testimonies of these authors, gathered here in a choral form, invite us to build relationships founded on listening, empathy and attention; they encourage us to expand our horizons of meaning, to observe what surrounds us with new eyes, to keep thought and word intact, to reconsider the simplest and most immediate elements of our lives as inexhaustible sources of meaning.

Venturing into their personal experience, we will discover how each of them has succeeded in breaking gender stereotypes, dismantling prejudicial barriers, and surpassing the expectations of those who wanted them to be otherwise. Their stories — extraordinary and unexpected — speak of the courage to pursue a dream, an ideal, the voice of one’s inner daimon.