On the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2026, the Embassy of Italy in Ottawa, the Consulate General of Italy in Toronto, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura Toronto, the Miles Nadal JCC and ICFF – Italian Contemporary Film Festival present the documentary Liliana, by Ruggero Gabbai, a portrait of Italian Senator for Life Liliana Segre and her enduring testimony.
INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBERANCE DAY 2026
LILIANA
by
Ruggero Gabbai
OPENING REMARKS
His Excellency Alessandro Cattaneo
Ambassador of Italy to Canada
Dr. Alberta Lai
Director
Istituto Italiano di Cultura Toronto
Tuesday, January 27 | 7:00PM
MILES NADAL JCC
Al Green Theatre
750 Spadina Ave | Toronto ON
A reception will follow the screening
FREE ADMISSION | REGISTRATION REQUIRED
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT
Liliana is a documentary by Ruggero Gabbai that retraces the testimony of life senator Liliana Segre linked to her arrest, deportation and poignant final farewell to her father. The film is based on juxtapositions, cross-references and contrasts between the historical account and the contemporary portrait of one of the most important women on the Italian scene. The docu-film highlights lesser-known aspects of the senator, revealing a modern cultural and political figure who is passionate about conveying a message of freedom and equality to the younger generations.
The voices of people close to her tell her story: her children, grandchildren, public figures such as Ferruccio De Bortoli, Mario Monti, Geppi Cucciari, Fabio Fazio, Enrico Mentana, and the carabinieri of her escort, allowing us to get closer to a more familiar and private Liliana. The result is a deep and detailed portrait, which gives access to the theme of the transmission of trauma and the importance of how history is told to future generations. In recent decades, Senator Segre has talked about her tragic experience on several occasions, starting in 1994 with Liliana Picciotto’s interview. These contents, created and preserved at the CDEC – Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea (Centre for Contemporary Jewish Documentation) – form an archive that provides valuable immediate access to as yet unpublished material, around which the film builds its narrative.
Presented by the Embassy of Italy in Canada, the Consulate General of Italy in Toronto, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura Toronto, the Miles Nadal JCC and ICFF – Italian Contemporary Film Festival.
ABOUT RUGGERO GABBAI
Ruggero Gabbai studied Film directing at Columbia University where he graduated in 1993. His thesis project was his first documentary The King of Crown Heights, aired on prime time by PBS America and distributed worldwide. In 1995 he returned to Italy and founded the production company Forma International. In 1997, he directed the documentary on the Italian Shoah, Memoria, selected at the Berlin Film Festival and aired on Rai Due on prime time. Gabbai has directed more than 30 documentaries: among them are Io ricordo, on the memory of mafia victims in Sicily, and The Longest Journey, selected at the Jerusalem Film Festival and presented in its world premiere in New York. His documentary film CityZEN, about the underprivileged neighbourhood ZEN in 5 Palermo, after being selected at the Taormina Film Festival was broadcast in 2018 by Sky Atlantic. He directed the film Being Missoni for sky Arte and the documentary The Raid, Rome 16 October 1943 selected at the Rome Film Festival and nominated for the 2019 Nastro d’Argento for best documentary. In January 2020 he presented his film for Rai Uno Kinderblock – L’ultimo inganno, about children in Auschwitz and in 2022 Il respiro di Shlomo about Shlomo Venezia and the sonderkommando.