ON THIS PAGE:
- Alone
- Padre Pio
- Kristos, the last child
ALONE
Iran, 2022. Director Jafar Najafi With Amir Mohammad, Razieh, Marzieh – Running Time 1h 11’ – Production: Jafar Najafi
Iranian cinema is one of the most represented film industries at Venezia 79 that supports freedom of expression against the recent further repression operated by the Iranian ayatollah’s regime. Among the many titles selected, there’s also the new documentary directed by Jafar Najafi, Alone, a special event at Venice Days. Alone focuses on the 14 years old Amir, who is alone facing the tradition that wants his head of the family after his father’s death and responsible for his mother and his two 12 years old twin sisters Marzieh e Razieh. The young protagonist tries to oppose the rules of the environment he lives in that foresee the terrible destiny for his sisters to become child brides. Najafi formerly shot the documentaries Asho (2019, awarded at IDFA) e The Make-Up Artist (2021, winner of Yamagata Film Festival).
Emanuele Bucci
PADRE PIO
Italy/Germany/UK, 2022 – Director: Abel Ferrara – With Shia Labeouf, Cristina Chiriac, Marco Leonardi, Asia Argento, Vincenzo Crea, Luca Lionello, Salvatore Ruocco, Brando Pacitto, Stella Mastrantonio, Martina Gatti, Roberta Mattei. Running Time: 1h 44’. Production: Maze Pictures Co-productioni: Interlinea Film, Rimsky Productions Supported by: MiC, Apulia Film Commission
Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio is one of the most awaited movies of Venezia 79 Venice Days. The director of Bad Lieutenant and The Addiction explores the Christian imaginary once again and makes a reflection on the presence of evil in the world through the biography of the famous religious man: «a monk, a saint, a healer, a charismatic man» this is how Ferrara describes him, and the director also considers him «a brilliant writer as shown by his letters ». Ferrara used these works for his screenplay that wrote teaming with Maurizio Braucci. But the movie not only tells the saint’s torment but also the chronicle of the slaughter that took place in 1920 in San Giovanni Rotondo, the small Apulian village where he chose to settle. The march for the electoral victory of the socialist party was bloodily repressed with the helping hand of the rising fascist movement, an event that Ferrara considers «the first battle of Second World War». Shia LaBeouf is the intense protagonist, and as the director says, «he brilliantly understood the role, deeply connecting himself with me as a human being ».
Emanuele Bucci
KRISTOS, THE LAST CHILD
Italy, France, Greece, 2022 Director: Giulia Amati – With Kristos Kabosos, Maria Tsialiera, Mihalis Kabosos – Running Time: 90′. Production: Blink Blink Production, Les films et l’oeil sauvage, Bad Crowd, Rai Cinema, Arte.
Among the nine titles of Notti Veneziane “the offbeat of Venice Days” today is the turn of Kristos, the Last Child, a documentary by Giulia Amati. Arki is a Greek island constantly windswept. Population: 30 people. Kristos is the only child left and the only student of a minuscule first-grade school. Kristos should leave Arki for a bigger island to complete mandatory school, but his family can’t afford the expenses, and his father wants him to become a shepherd just like his brothers. Kristos’ teacher, Maria, can’t accept this situation. She’s determined to find a way to let him continue his education. What will happen to Kristos? Will he remain on the island or leave Arki to continue his studies across the sea? Giulia Amati has built her movie on the eternal dilemma of leaving or staying. Her previous journey explored human evil in This is my land…Hebron, the portrait of a holy land disputed by many, a movie for which was nominated for Silver Ribbons and David di Donatello.
Tiziana Leone
