THE TEAM

Mirra Bank, Producer, is known for her editorial work on Academy Award-winning films WOODSTOCK, and HARLAN COUNTY, USA, and on the iconic portrait of Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones, GIMME SHELTER.  She produced and directed films for such PBS series as the Emmy Award-winning THE 51ST STATE, and for THE ORIGINALS: WOMEN IN ART, among others.  Features she directed include LAST DANCE, shortlisted for an Academy Award; ENORMOUS CHANGES (Toronto and Sundance Film Festivals); THE ONLY REAL GAME (Netflix premiere); NOBODY’S GIRLS, (non-fiction PBS special); and NO FEAR NO FAVOR, about protecting Africa’s wildlife.

Gini Reticker, Consulting Producer, is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. She directed the acclaimed Pray the Devil Back to Hell, co-created and executive produced multiple seasons of the PBS series WOMEN, WAR & PEACE. A five-time Sundance alum, Reticker’s work includes the Academy Award-nominated ASYLUM.; Emmy-winner Ladies First; and Emmy-nominated A Decade Under the Influence. Along with Abigail Disney, Reticker founded Fork Films and served as its Chief Creative Officer. She is recognized as a champion of women in the documentary field and has executive produced more than twenty award-winning films.

Cinzia Rocchi, Civita Field Producer and Interpreter, was born to a family that traces its roots in Civita back to 1500. She left Italy to study Visual Anthropology at Goldsmiths University of London, where she produced a highly regarded master’s thesis that explored the effect of tourism on local cultures. Later, at the Royal Anthropology Institute, Cinzia created HOME IS WHERE YOUR HEART IS, a documentary film about young London squatters. Cinzia has returned to Civita, and plays an essential role translating and helping produce CIVITA.

Annarita Sasso, Archival Producer, is a creative producer and TV writer. Italian, with an international background, Annarita began her career in Rome at the International TV series Co-productions department of Mediaset.  She later joined RAI Cinema in New York where she dealt with production, marketing and monitoring of the North American film & TV markets. As archival producer for CIVITA she is researching historic photographs, archival film footage and authentic music to be added to the sound design.

Deborah Shaffer, Consulting Producer. Award winning filmmaker Deborah Shaffer’s credits include THE WOBBLIES, recently restored by MoMA and selected for the National Film Registry; many human rights films, including WITNESS TO WAR: DR. CHARLIE CLEMENTS, Academy Award for Short Documentary; FIRE FROM THE MOUNTAIN, Emmy nomination, and DANCE OF HOPE, Prix d’Or–FIPA. Shaffer was an Executive Producer of the Academy Award ASYLUM. She co-directed TO BE HEARD, Audience & Jury Awards at DOC NYC and QUEEN OF HEARTS: AUDREY FLACK, Audience Award at the Hamptons Documentary Film Festival.

Elena Toccafondi, Creative Producer and Editor, is an award-winning documentary editor and creative producer based in NYC having moved to the U.S. from her home in Italy in 2015. She loves working on character-driven stories and projects about activism and social issues. Elena has worked on 10+ feature documentaries, including Netflix’s critically acclaimed Amanda Knox and Miracle on 42nd Street, which won the 2020 New York Emmy Award for Best Documentary. Among other projects, she edited I Am The Revolution (RAI CINEMA), a feature documentary about three women fighting for gender equality and freedom in the Middle East which premiered at DOC NYC 2018.

ADVISORS

Richard Ingersoll teaches art, architecture, and sustainable urbanism at NYU and Syracuse University (both in Florence, Italy). His recent publications are World Architecture: A Cross-Cultural History and Sprawltown: Looking for the City on its Edges. He was a key participant in the 2008 World Monument Fund’s symposium Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Tuff Towns—Civita di Bagnoregio, Pitigliano and Orvieto

Claudio Margottini leads the colossal geological preservation project in Civita di Bagnoregio, a situation he regards as urgent. He is currently engaged at ISPRA, Italy’s Department of Geological Survey, and as Vice President of the International Consortium on Landslides in Kyoto, Japan. He taught Geological Engineering for the Protection of Cultural Heritage at the University of Modena, Italy, and now teaches Fundamentals of Geothermal Energy and Thermogeology in Wuhan, China. He serves as a consultant to UNESCO and many other international bodies, developing geological engineering techniques to preserve cultural heritage sites from natural disasters and environmental threats.

Manuela Ricci, architect and distinguished professor, is director of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning Sapienza, Università di Roma and FOCUS (Formazione, Cultura, Storia) Research Centre, which is dedicated to the integrated preservation and management of small historic centers, with emphasis on Italian hill towns.