There comes a moment in the history of seafarers when something changes forever. It is no longer enough to stay on the surface, observing and waiting. Someone decides to go further. To descend.
Corallari tells the story of precisely this transition: the birth of a new generation of men who have chosen to challenge the sea by venturing into its deepest and most unknown depths. Coral divers are not mere fishermen. They are modern-day explorers, heirs to an ancient culture yet bearers of a different vision: not to wait for nature, but to traverse it, to push its boundaries, and to seek within it a wealth that is both economic and symbolic.
The film moves between past and present, reconstructing the stories of those who have made coral their reason for living. Men who dive into the depths in pursuit of ever-deeper schools of fish, where time stretches out and the human body is put to the test. The descent is not only physical but also mental: every dive is a direct confrontation with limits, with risk, with the unknown.
But Corallari is not just the story of those who descend. It is a portrait of an entire world that revolves around coral. From the boats to the ports, all the way to the workshops of Torre del Greco—the historic heart of coral processing—where the raw material takes shape and gains value.
Through testimonies, images, and memories, the film weaves a collective narrative that highlights an invisible network of relationships, trade, and tradition. At the center of it all is the sea—not as a backdrop, but as the protagonist—a living, ambivalent presence: both a promise of wealth and a constant threat.
The film also explores change: the evolution of techniques, the introduction of new technologies, and the regulations governing coral fishing. Yet, despite everything, the allure remains. Corallari is the story of an impossible challenge: that between man and the sea. A challenge that cannot be won, but one that continues to be faced, every day, by those who choose to dive.

Director's note

Corallari stems from the need to tell the story of a world that is disappearing. Not just a trade, but a whole way of life. Compared to my previous work, Diario di Tonnara, this film represents a radical shift in perspective: in that film, the sea was experienced from above; here, we tell the story of the children of that same culture who decide to break the unspoken pact with nature and enter its deepest recesses. I have tried to avoid any form of nostalgia: the coral divers are not heroes in the classical sense, but real men, with their own contradictions.