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MASCHE: THE WITCHES OF LEVONE

The documentary film “Masche, le streghe di Levone” brings back to light a historical event dating back to 1474 that took place in the Canavese village of Levone, where four women were accused of witchcraft and two of them were sentenced to death at the stake.

Through testimonies from historians, anthropologists, jurists, and scholars of popular culture, the film reconstructs the social, religious, and judicial context of the time, weaving together historical memory and cinematic representation.

  • Andry Verga
    Director
  • Andry Verga
    Writer
  • Corrado Tisci
    Writer
  • Andry Verga
    Producer
    Masterblack
  • Francesca Brizzolara
    Key Cast
  • Lucia Giovannini
    Key Cast
  • Alessia Spanu
    Key Cast
  • Francesca Melis
    Key Cast
  • Fabio Irato
    Key Cast
  • Gioacchino Inzirillo
    Key Cast
  • Gabriele de Mattheis
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    MASCHE, LE STREGHE DI LEVONE
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 10 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 2, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Country of Filming:
    Italy
  • Language:
    Italian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16/9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • First public screening
    Ivrea
    Italy
    March 5, 2026
    Cinema Splendor Boaro
  • Cinema Ambra multisala
    Valperga
    Italy
    March 13, 2026
Director Biography - Andry Verga

ANDRY VERGA
Director | Cinematographer | Producer

Born: 24 January 1972 – Johannesburg (South Africa)
Nationality: Italian
Based in: Italy

Email: andry@masterblack.it

Showreel: https://vimeo.com/masterblack

Company: Masterblack s.a.s. – San Giusto Canavese (Turin, Italy)

ENPALS registered since 1997
Registered at Ufficio Spettacolo Torino since 1994

Andry Verga is an Italian filmmaker, director, cinematographer and producer active since 1996.
He began his career in television and broadcast production as camera operator and editor for ENG news formats, later working across television studios, live events, advertising, and international productions.
Over the years he has collaborated with major broadcasters and production companies including RAI, Mediaset and NHK (Japan), working in studio production, OB vans and field shooting (EFP/ENG), covering sports, live entertainment, institutional productions and documentaries.
Alongside his broadcast career, he developed a parallel authorial path focused on documentary filmmaking and historical storytelling, with a strong attention to cultural memory and territorial identity, particularly in Northern Italy.

In 2006 he founded Masterblack s.a.s., through which he produces independent documentary projects, editorial works and audiovisual productions.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY (DIRECTOR / AUTHOR)

Belmonte, un patrimonio da scoprire (2019) – Documentary (30’), UNESCO site
La Festa dello Scarlo (2019) – Historical documentary (50’)
Violetta, la leggenda (2019) – Short film (15’)
Canavese, Terra di Sapori (2017) – Documentary + editorial project (ENG version available)
Guido Gozzano dalle Golose al Meleto (2016) – Docufiction (RAI 5 broadcast)
Re Arduino, Sans despartir (2015) – Docufiction (70’, RAI 3 / RAI Storia)
La stagione dei gusci di noce – Feature film (regional language)
Heresìa – Historical docufiction (witch trials of Levone)
Il Priorato di Santo Stefano (2010) – Documentary DVD (60’)
La Jena di San Giorgio (2003) – Docufiction (historical crime narrative)

Long-term experience in television and broadcast production across Italy and abroad, including:
RAI (studio productions, sports, cultural programs, live events)
Mediaset (fiction and television productions)
NHK Japan (HDTV documentary production and Olympic coverage)
EFP / OB Van productions for international sports and live events
Winter Olympic Games Torino 2006 (NHK / RAI productions)
Formula 1 (Imola, Monza)
Cycling World Championships (Verona)
Ski World Championships (Bormio)
Venice Historical Regatta
Major theater and opera productions in Italy

Documentary filmmaking
Cultural heritage storytelling
Editorial audiovisual projects (book + DVD formats)
Territory-based cinema and historical memory

The work of Andry Verga is rooted in a traditional European documentary approach: field research, direct testimony, and reconstruction of historical memory through cinema.

His filmography consistently focuses on:
historical reconstruction
local identity and oral culture
judicial and social history of Northern Italy
documentary realism with narrative structure

His current trajectory moves toward internationally positioned documentary cinema, with strong festival-oriented storytelling based on historical truth and cultural identity.

LINKS
Showreel: https://vimeo.com/masterblack

FCTP profile: http://www.fctp.it/professional_item.php?id=913&fulltext=andry%20verga

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Masche, le streghe di Levone nasce dall’esigenza di riportare alla luce una vicenda rimasta ai margini della memoria storica, ma profondamente radicata nella cultura europea: la persecuzione delle donne accusate di stregoneria.

Il processo del 1474 a Levone non è solo un fatto locale. È una traccia di un tempo in cui paura, ignoranza e struttura del potere giudiziario si intrecciavano fino a trasformare la differenza in colpa. Ricostruire questa storia significa interrogare non solo il passato, ma anche il modo in cui le società costruiscono i propri meccanismi di esclusione.
Il film si sviluppa attraverso un lavoro di ricerca storica e testimoniale, mettendo in dialogo studiosi, antropologi, giuristi e ricercatori della cultura popolare. L’obiettivo non è la spettacolarizzazione del processo, ma la sua comprensione: riportare alla superficie ciò che è stato rimosso o semplificato nel tempo.
Ho scelto un approccio che unisce rigore documentario e costruzione cinematografica, dove la memoria non è un archivio statico ma un territorio vivo, ancora leggibile nei luoghi e nelle narrazioni che li attraversano.
Il mio interesse non è la stregoneria come mito, ma come fenomeno sociale e giudiziario. In questo senso, Masche diventa una riflessione più ampia sul rapporto tra verità, potere e rappresentazione.

Oggi, in un tempo in cui la memoria storica viene spesso frammentata o ridotta a racconto semplificato, questo film si pone come un atto di restituzione: non per giudicare il passato, ma per comprenderne la complessità.

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Masche, the Witches of Levone was born from the need to bring to light a story that has remained on the margins of historical memory, yet is deeply rooted in European culture: the persecution of women accused of witchcraft.

The 1474 trial in Levone is not only a local event. It is a trace of a time in which fear, ignorance, and judicial power structures intertwined, turning difference into guilt. Reconstructing this story means questioning not only the past, but also the way societies build mechanisms of exclusion.
The film develops through a process of historical and testimonial research, bringing together historians, anthropologists, legal scholars, and researchers of popular culture. The aim is not to dramatize the trial, but to understand it: to bring to the surface what has been removed or simplified over time.
I chose an approach that combines documentary rigor with cinematic construction, where memory is not a static archive but a living territory, still readable in places and in the narratives that inhabit them.
My focus is not witchcraft as myth, but as a social and judicial phenomenon. In this sense, Masche becomes a broader reflection on the relationship between truth, power, and representation.

Today, in a time when historical memory is often fragmented or reduced to simplified narratives, this film stands as an act of restitution: not to judge the past, but to understand its complexity.