BLACKMAIL, conspiracy, courage and fear are at the centre of a new documentary on the Mafia edited by a University of Bolton lecturer.

The film, A Very Sicilian Justice, is edited by Liza Ryan-Carter and follows the Sicilian judge Antonino di Matteo who is trying to take on the Mafia.

Di Matteo is currently chief prosecutor in the trial known as the Trattativa — the negotiation — in which the state is in the dock alongside the Mafia.

Ms Ryan-Cater, senior lecturer in media practice, said: “I was invited to work on the film by director Paul Sapin who began working on the uncommissioned project.

“He had not received any funding but wanted to tell the story of this important trial taking place in Palermo, Italy.

“Paul and Toby Follet worked on the film for nearly two years before Al Jazeera came on board with funding, enabling him to complete the project.

“My job as the film editor is to sift through all the material with the directors to tell the story of di Matteo who has put his life at risk.”

The film is narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Dame Helen Mirren, who owns a home in Italy and has a close personal connection to the events in the documentary.

A close friend of hers lost his brother in 1992 in the explosion of Mafia violence described in the film.

Central to di Matteo’s case is the story of Italy’s most famous anti-Mafia judges, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

During the 1980s they prosecuted hundreds of Cosa Nostra members in what was known

as the Maxi Trial, the largest Mafia court case in history. Some 346 Mafiosi were found guilty.

Both judges were killed in 1992 by the Mafia. Inspired by these two judges, di Matteo is now taking up where they left off.

He is trying to shine a light on Italy’s so-called season of terror from 1991 to 1994, when the Mafia organised a series of bombings and murders to force a negotiation with the government.

The case is still ongoing and could take a further two years before a conclusion is reached.

But Ms Ryan-Carter admits that di Matteo has seen and is a fan of the completed documentary.

The film has been shown on Al Jazeera English and can be seen again on Thursday at 6am.

It can also be watched at aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2016/06/sicilian-justice-mafia-160619071747632.html.