Vincent, a middle-aged Nigerian man, gets up every morning at six and meticulously cleans the sidewalks of Grottarossa, a residential neighborhood in Rome. With the money he collects from begging, he buys himself a hot meal and his favorite beer. But what past does this charismatic man, marked by alcoholism, hide?

DIRECTOR'S NOTES:
This short film was born as an offshoot of the feature San Damiano. During the shoot, we met many people living around Rome’s Termini Station, but among them, Vincent struck us in a particularly profound way. He was one of the homeless men we spent the most time with, yet during editing we couldn’t find the space he truly deserved. That’s why 52 Is a Machine came to life: a work entirely dedicated to him, to his voice, and to his story.
At first glance, Vincent might seem like “just another African man” asking for change while sweeping the sidewalk. But behind his presence lies a far more complex story, marked by the wounds of the First Liberian Civil War—one of the most brutal and forgotten conflicts of recent history.
Liberia itself is emblematic: a sort of Israel before Israel. It was born as a project of return to one’s ancestral land, meant to offer a homeland to African Americans freed from slavery. Its flag echoes that of the United States, and its capital, Monrovia, is named after President Monroe. But that return ended up creating new tensions with those who were already living on that land.
Like Vincent, every person living on the margins carries a story, a weight that often remains invisible to those who pass by.