Festival Mistero dei Monti - Paola Caridi

EMPAThetic JOURNALISM
with Paola Caridi, journalist, historian, and essayist

Independence and intellectual courage characterize Paola Caridi's journalistic practice, a field journalism based on direct observation and profound historical knowledge. The bravery to look beyond prejudices and official narratives to tell the human and political complexities of difficult places like Gaza, Jerusalem, and Egypt, living firsthand in the hotspots of conflict, listening to the voices of those who are usually labeled and dehumanized, in an attempt to restore dignity and humanity through writing that becomes a moral obligation. Among the most authoritative and competent analysts of Middle Eastern events, her insights connect the politics of the territory to physical places, where hills, trees, and heights, often contested in historical conflicts, define the right to existence and identity of the peoples. In her recent work “Sudari. Elegy for Gaza” (2025), the author transforms her narrative into a civic oration that questions the conscience of all of us in the face of the humanitarian catastrophe that has been perpetrated in that desolate land. Paola Caridi is the president of Lettera22, an association of journalists specialized in issues of foreign policy, international cooperation, and culture. In 2024, she won the Kapuscinski Prize for the essay-reportage “Hamas. From Resistance to Regime” (2023).