For those of you who have been on my Anti-Mafia Heroes tour and for those of you thinking of joining me soon. This list isn't meant in anyway to be homework, but rather to give you more information than I could possibly give in one tour and to enable you to do deeper dives in topics that particularly interested you. Enjoy!

‭ Anti-Mafia Heroes Tour Movies and Books 

Recommended by Gobo Tours Italy‬

‭ Movies‬

-The Mafia Only Kills in Summer,‬‭ Pif 2013 and‬‭ In Querra Per Amore‬‭, 2016‬ also by Pif.

‭ The English title of the second movie is mistranslated as ‘At War With Love,’ properly it should be ‘In War for‬ Love.’ Both movies are comedy dramas directed by the Palermitano Pif (aka‬ Pierfrancesco Diliberto). The first deals with growing up in Palermo during the “long eighties” the‬ second with the Allies bringing the mafia back to Sicily in ‘43.‬ It's amazing how gently and deftly Pif handles such complex and heavy topics.  The Mafia Only Kills in Summer is a modern masterpiece, so beloved that it was made into a tv series as well. 

The Mafia Only Kills in Summer,‬‭ movie is available for free on Tubi.com and for rent with English subtitles on youtube.com.  The TV series is on MHzchoice.com.  ‘At War With Love' is streaming on Dailymotion.com.

- I Cento Passi‬‭ ,‬‭ or The One Hundred Steps, Marco Tullio Giordana, 2000. 

Beautifully tells the story of the incredibly brave Peppino Impastato,‬ a valiant and often wickedly funny man, he was an anti-mafia activist from a mafia family (father was a soldier, uncle was a boss) isolated in the small and, at that time, dangerous mafia town of Cinisi. But he defied them all by creating a radio statio and broadcasting his satires about the mafia and mafiosi. The lead actor Luigi Lo Cascio won a Best Actor David of Donatello award (the Italian equivalent of an Oscar) for his portrayal of Peppino.  For rent through Amazon Prime. 

-The Traitor, Marco Bellocchio, 2019

Tells the story of the mafia supergrass/ turncoat/ traitor Tommaso Buscetta. The acting and production values are very good but the story needed a little work- unless a person is very familiar with the story of Tommaso Buscetta, the other characters, and the context, I suspect the film could be confusing. One little thing I'd like to point out is that there were two Vincenzo Sinagras present during the Maxi trial. The one I talk about on my tour, the pentito, is never named but shown giving his testimony by an actor wearing a black sweater with yellow shoulders. The other Vincenzo Sinagra who feigned lunacy during the maxi trial to delay proceedings and try to get clemency was his first cousin- they had the same name. Available on Amazon Prime.

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Documentaries

‭ -Mystery of the Lost Paintings - Se1 - Ep08 - Mystery of the Lost Caravaggio‬

‭ About the mafia theft of Caravaggio's Natività.  Really atrocious musical choices and one of the interviewees misspeaks and says the pentito Marino Mannoia was rumored to use the‬ missing Natività as a bedside rug. The actual rumor is that Toto Riina, who never repented, did that.‬ Those two quibbles aside, a solid little documentary. Free on Dailymotion.com

-Excellent Cadavers, Marco Turco, 2005

Based on the book by Alexander Stille it follows Stille's visit to Sicily in 2005 and interviews colleagues of Falcone and Borsellino about their lives and work. Very moving and informative. But my favorite part is that it includes video of both Borsellino and Falcone speaking with English subtitles, which I hadn't seen before. I think this is a rare opportunity for English speakers to watch Falcone and Borsellino and get a sense of their personalities.  The documentary has a pessimistic ending, not realizing that the mafia had been truly broken and was slowly and irreversibly dying and that the Palermitano anti-mafia urban renewal groups were already making great strides that were about to start bearing fruit, in the generation that had been educated in schools, and in the form of new businesses opening up and outside capitol coming back to Palermo. Free on Tubi.com

-Shooting the Mafia, Kim Longinotto, 2019

Excellent documentary about Letizia Battaglia, journalist, photographer, politician, and beloved anti-mafia hero. In addition to showing Letizia's life and work the documentary filmmakers did an excellent job pulling together archival  footage showing the fury of the crowds at the funerals of Falcone and Borsellino, the fear and silence of witnesses to mafia crimes, and interviews with English subtitles of both Falcone and Borsellino.  Free on Tubi.com

‭ Books‬

- Behan, Tom, Defiance: The Story of One Man Who Stood Up to the Sicilian Mafia‬‭, 2007

The story‬ of Peppino Impastato from Cinisi, story dramatized in the movie‬‭ I Cento Passi.‬‭ 

- Still, Alexander, Excellent Cadavers, 1995‬‭ 

Extremely well-written and focuses on the lives and work of Falcone and Borsellino.‬

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- Dash, Mike, The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder, and the Birth of the American Mafia, 2009‬‭ ‬

‭ Talks about Giuseppe Morello and Joe Petrosino and the connections between the US mafia and Sicilian Cosa‬ Nostra.

‭ Article‬

‭ -Zalewski, Daniel. “The Factory of Fakes.”  The New Yorker‬‭ , 2016 

Article I read before I came to Sicily for the first time about the stolen Caravaggio and Factum Arte's recreation of it. A great introduction to the many sides of Palermo in one article. More information and pictures on Factum Arte's website. 

Would you like me to add more books and movies to this list? Let me know!