In October 2022, during a recording session, Piero Pelù fainted from a sudden shock that left him with permanent damage to his auditory nerve and severe depression. The “noise inside” became a forced opportunity to pause, reconnect, regenerate, and write a new album dedicated to our inner deserts. Through a total immersion in his own intimate world, one of the protagonists of the Italian rock scene find his way again.
The film, punctuated by Pelù’s participation in the annual gypsy pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue, in honour of Sara-la-Kâli (Sara the Black), protector of travellers, becomes a road movie and a reflection on over forty years spent “off the road” as a free and fearless figure on the Italian music scene.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES:
In 1997, I made my directorial debut with Litfiba’s Regina di cuori. My intense encounter with Piero Pelù marked the beginning of a long creative journey in music videos. Since then, I’ve always believed that his charisma transcended music: Pelù is a free, unconventional artist, capable of speaking to audiences without filters or compromises. For this documentary, I immediately wanted something different from the usual music biopics: a true, intimate, and direct film. I chose a streamlined and immersive approach, often shooting alone to capture the spontaneity of everyday moments, avoiding narrative superstructures. In this insider’s account, the rock star’s public dimension intertwines with the private dimension of the man, the father, and the friend. A trip to the Camargue aboard a camper van, to the gypsy festival in honour of Sara the Black, becomes a symbolic and reflective journey through evocative landscapes, unseen archive material, and a stream of consciousness narrated by Pelù’s voiceover. The result is a portrait that doesn’t celebrate, but simply tells the story. It doesn’t idealise, but reveals Piero Pelù as an authentic, vibrant, and indomitable artist.