“The Darkest the Night, the Brighter the Stars” is a long-term documentary by
@glaucocanalis exploring youth culture in Napoli through the raw, chaotic, and deeply symbolic ritual of the Cippo di Sant’Antonio. What begins as a playful yet violent street game—children in balaclavas stealing Christmas trees, guarding them like treasures, and clashing with rivals—unfolds into a powerful rite of passage. In the fire they ignite, mischief meets tenderness, childhood collides with manhood, and a fragile search for identity emerges from the shadows of systemic marginalization.
Far from the clichés that have long shaped the image of Napoli, this series mixes color and black & white to create an intimate, diary-like narrative. It seeks to capture both the grit and the beauty of growing up in a place where boundaries between law and outlaw, loyalty and rivalry, violence and tenderness, are constantly blurred. At its heart, the work is an ode to youth: resilient, reckless, and luminous—even in the darkest of nights.
"The darkest the night, the brighter the stars"
by Glauco Canalis
portfolio winners call 'Urbanautica Institute Awards 2024'
Category: Anthropology and Territories
