Oculus-Spei
5 Multimedia Installations, displayed at the Pantheon in Rome, at the Museo de' Medici in Florence and at the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, Royal Museums of Turin.
DOCUMENTARY
20 min / ITALY, 2025
OCULUS-SPEI
The Jubilee, celebrated every 25 years in Rome, is a Holy Year when the Pope opens the Holy Doors, inviting all to forgiveness and rebirth. Oculus-Spei is an inspirational short documentary inspired by the XXV Jubilee and dedicated to the memory of Pope Francis. Directed by Annalaura di Luggo, it reinterprets the ritual of the opening of the Holy Doors through a multimedia lens, capturing the emotional and symbolic power of her interactive installation, Oculus-Spei. Presented inside the Pantheon in Rome from December 2024 to March 2025 — under patronage of the 2025 Jubilee and the Italian Ministries of Culture, Foreign Affairs, and Justice — the installation was experienced by over two million visitors. Four virtual doors reproduce Papal Basilicas (St. Peter’s, St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. John Lateran), inviting visitors to symbolically knock and enter dialogue with people with disabilities worldwide, each illuminated and transfigured by light. The fifth door, inspired by Rebibbia Prison and opened by Pope Francis as an additional Holy Door, introduces an interactive gesture-recognition system that lets visitors see themselves behind virtual bars — a metaphor for personal limitations and existential struggles. A ray of light breaks barriers, transforming the experience into one of liberation and spiritual awakening. Oculus-Spei interweaves Holy Doors opening with reflections and interviews of pilgrims, disabled people, religious leaders, and cultural figures, exploring hope’s transformative power. With a soundscape inspired by sacred texts performed by soprano Ekaterina Shelehova, Oculus-Spei becomes a cinematic journey where art, spirituality, human connection and technology converge, embodying the Jubilee’s universal message: Pilgrims of Hope.
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
Annalaura di Luggo
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Annydi srl
CREATIVE CONSULTANT
Stanley Isaacs
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Cesare Accetta
EDITED BY
Sara Zavarise
MUSIC BY
Ekaterina Shelehova
ORIGINAL SONG
Music by Riccardo Borselli
Sung by Ekaterina Shelehova
MARKETING CONSULTANT
Greg Ferris
ART CURATOR
Ivan D’Alberto
DOCUMENTARY CAST AND APPEARANCES
Pope Francis
S.E.R. Rino Fisichella
Massimo Osanna
Director General of Museums at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage
The protagonists from the 4 corners of the world
Samantha Durage (Asia)
Martina Frola (Europe)
Serigne Mboup (Africa)
Ignazio Sibillo (Americas)
GENERAL INFO
GENRE
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
LANGUAGE
ITALIAN ENGLISH SUBTITLES
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
ITALY
© 2025 All Right reserved, a Production of Annydi srl
Oculus-Spei: Beyond the gaze a journey of light and hope
Public Support
The film obtained the moral patronage of the XXV Jubilee, of the Italian Minister of Culture, of the Italian Minister of Justice and of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Luca de Magistris Private Banker Fideuram.
Inclusion of Minorities
The majority of the Technical Staff was female including the director, the editor, the colorist, the production director. The artistic crew consisted of people with disability from around the world: a paraplegic man from Africa, a blind lady from India, a young adult with spastic tetra paresis from Chile, a young woman with Down syndrome from Italy, and other four people with different disabilities.