Film Festival, Full Film

THE SIEGE OF PARADISE

Ted Delano ·

THE SIEGE OF PARADISE

FRI, 12/11, 11:00am, 86 min
BAY STREET THEATER

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Director: Gar O’Rourke
Producers: Andrew Freedman, Ken Wardrop, Jessie Hayden
Editor: John Murphy
Cinematographer: Lukas Gut

In Cinque Terre on Italy’s northern Riviera, fewer than 3,000 locals endure over 4 million tourists each summer. Across one chaotic season, six very different lives play out in parallel, revealing a sharply funny and tender story of paradise under pressure in the age of social media-driven tourism. The conflict between influencers and locals unfolds against the tourist economy that sustains many of the residents. Any resemblance to the economy of the East End of Long Island is unintended and purely coincidental.

Gar O'Rourke is an award-winning director based between Portugal and Ireland. His work spans feature films, branded work, commercials, and art films. His debut feature documentary, Sanatorium, was selected as Ireland's official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2026 Academy Awards.