THE FIRST CHILD
Mara Fondacaro
Writer: Mara Fondacaro
A mother must face her deceased son who has returned from the afterlife to kill the little brother she is carrying.
Mara Fondacaro, born in 1994, wrote the screenplay for the film La Parrucchiera
by Stefano Incerti in 2016 and followed the set as an assistant director.
In 2017 she wrote and directed the short film Mosca cieca.
In 2021 she graduated in Screenwriting at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia.
The First Son is her debut film as a director.
RIFT IN THE ICE
Maja Miloš
Writer: Maja Miloš
Marija is a young ice skater who lives on the outskirts of Belgrade with her father and stepmother Suzana. Crushed by a difficult financial situation, Maria is forced to enter a world in which women are sexually exploited. The sincere love of a young man, however, gives her the resolve to accept herself and her sexuality.
Maja Miloš is born in Belgrade, Serbia in 1983. She attains a degree in Film and Television Direction in 2008 at Belgrade University's Faculty of Dramatic Arts. In the course of her studies, she directs 11 documentary and fictional short films. Her first full-length feature Clip (2012) is presented at festivals across the Globe.
With the project Una crepa nel ghiaccio, (Rift in the Ice), co-produced by Nightswim, she is selected for the Atelier of Cannes and the Torino Film Lab.
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DWELLING AMONG
THE GODS
Vuk Ršumović
Writers: Vuk Rsumović, Momir Turudić
The drama recounts the story of the young Afghan woman, Fereshteh, who makes it to Serbia as a refugee, along with her husband, Reza, and their three children, only to discover that her younger brother, Ali, who had arrived in Belgrade a few weeks earlier, had drowned and will soon be buried as an “unidentified person.” Fereshteh refuses to leave Belgrade before giving her brother a proper burial under his real name. Now, to obtain the permit necessary to retain custody over the corpse, she initiates a complex and uncertain procedure to prove her brother's identity through a DNA sample taken from her father - a profoundly religious man who is still in Afghanistan.
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Vuk Ršumović is a multiply-awarded screenwriter and film director. He studies Film and Theater Writing at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Dramatic Arts. His first full-length feature, No One’s Child, wins three prestigious awards at the Venice Film Festival: the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) award for Best Film (Horizons and International Critics' Week), and the FEDEORA (Federation of Film Critics of Europe and the Mediterranean) for Best Screenplay. The film wins more than 35 awards around the world. His goal as film director is that of creating thrilling and complex narrative worlds that can delve deeper with both greater clarity and conviction. Along with his commitments to the big screen, he is also active in theater work.
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AFTER DIVE
Patrizia Emma Scialpi
Writer: Patrizia Emma Scialpi
After Dive tells a story of passion, perseverance, discipline and sharing. A proper athletic preparation for the sports discipline of Olympic Diving requires constant training, a veritable regiment of "technique improvement" and heroic levels of coordination and concentration. The film's setting is the Karl Dibiasi Pool of Bolzano, a structure which as of 2008, hosts the training sessions of Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallapè - two divers who had set a new record with their eight consecutive victories at the European Woman's synchronized 3 meter springboard contest and who then went on to the consecration of a silver medal at the Olympic Games of Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Now, after an initial farewell to the springboard, they return after a two year hiatus, to train once again as a duo for the upcoming Olympics; in the meantime, both had become mothers, respectively of Maya and Ludovica.
Patrizia Emma Scialpi, author and director, is a visual artist and filmmaker. Attaining a degree in Visual Arts at the Fine Arts Academy of Brera, she specializes in Documentaries at the Cinema Department of the Civic School of Milan. In 2017, she's among the winners of the Talent Video Award, under the auspices of Carof, Mibact and the Fid Festival with the video Neith. In 2018, she debuts with her first documentary Ogni Cosa Rosa (Every Pink Thing), lensed in Taranto and produced by the Luchino Visconti Civic School of Cinema of Milan. She collaborates with diverse cultural realities and independent spaces, among which: Gigantic, Labuat, TOC Centre and ENECEfilm for the realization of works of Cinéma du Réel.
DISCO HELL
Eleonora Danco
Writer: Eleonora Danco
Disco Hell continues the trilogy started with N-Capace (2014). With a curious and ironic language, Eleonora Danco recounts the "nutter world" of grownups, a hell of instability and disquietude. Drawing heavily from the "actual and factual," and transforming real life into uncanny film scripts, Eleonora Danco avails herself of a grotesque and oneiric language to create an amusing and countercurrent portrait of the female world.
Eleonora Danco is an actress, director, playwright. In 2014, she directs the multiply-awarded N-Capace ("N-capable"), available on RaiPlay. She writes for various theater groups, among which the Resident Theater Company of Parma and the Resident Theater Company of Naples. For RadioRai3, she realizes the documentary Il vuoto (The Void) and the Single Act Non parlo di me (I'm not Talking about Myself). For Mario Martone, she writes Mignotta '56 (Whore '56), based on the film story by Sergio Citti. What's more, she collaborates as editorialist for the Roman Daily Newspaper Il Messaggero. As an actress, she works with - among others - Nanni Moretti, Ettore Scola.
THE ABDICATION OF THE PRINCE
Ivan Salatić
Writer: Ivan Salatić
Jovo is young and wants to prove that he is capable of heroism, even if such feats don't exactly match his sensitive temperament. One day, he chances upon a wounded Turk. Jovo decides to smite him and deliver his severed head as a trophy as an offering to the Lord of the Hill, Morlak. Morlak is taken up with reading poems when Jovo knocks on his door. The latter's gift is defined as repugnant and he is ousted from his chambers. By painful degrees, Jovo's conscience reappears at dawn as he hastens back home. Rejected by his master, he realizes the utter horror of the gruesome act he had committed.
Ivan Salatić attains a degree at the Fine Arts School of Belgrade, but in time, he indulges in his growing interest for Cinema. Following up on this, he enrolls at the Cinema School of Montenegro. His works have been shown and awarded at many international festivals. The short film Backyards is presented in 2015 at the Venice Film Festival - Horizons Section, followed by the full-length feature You Have The Night, it too presented at the Venice Festival, in 2018. He receives a Master's Degree at the HFBK (University of Fine Arts of Hamburg) in 2016. He manages Meander Film, a production company headquartered in Montenegro.
BLACK RIVER
Goran Stanković
Writer: Goran Stanković
When DEJAN (32), a drug addict, arrives at the rehab community in a monastery located at the southern extremity of Serbia, he is received by the charismatic - and authoritarian - Father BRANKO (54). Dejan finds the support he needs in him and eventually becomes his right hand man, until the priest crosses the line with his rehabilitation methods.
Goran Stanković attains a degree at the Fine Arts School of Belgrade, but in time, he indulges in his growing interest for Cinema. Following up on this, he enrolls at the Cinema School of Montenegro. His works have been shown and awarded at many international festivals. The short film Backyards is presented in 2015 at the Venice Film Festival - Horizons Section, followed by the full-length feature You Have The Night, it too presented at the Venice Festival, in 2018. He receives a Master's Degree at the HFBK (University of Fine Arts of Hamburg) in 2016. He manages Meander Film, a production company headquartered in Montenegro.
SEA SISTERS
Brunella Filì
Writers: Brunella Filì, Antonella Gaeta
After a conflict with her family, Sandra, a Sámi woman hailing from the far North of Norway, fulfills her dream of becoming the captain of her own fishing vessel, making her one of the scarce few "fisherwomen" operating in the Arctic Sea. "It's not just a job for me, it's a way of life. And it all takes place in the world's best office: the Sea." But the price she pays for this "honor and luxury" is the highest imaginable: the Norwegian Social Service take away her custody over her 5 year old daughter, Leah. The reason? She isn't allowed to stay away from home for so many consecutive days - a demand that is not imposed on her male fishermen colleagues! And so for Sandra it also becomes a political battle. Antonia, age 26, lives in Gallipoli, a small fishing village in Apulia - Italy's "Deep South" - crowded with tourists in the summer and swept by winds and storms in the winter. She had lost her father, a fisherman, in a raging storm: she had never known him and the man's body had never been found. Yet he is constantly present in her thoughts - for in turn, Antonia wishes to become a fisherwoman as well, but her entire family opposes her decision and only her brother is allowed to get aboard the family fishing vessel. The film - sparing of dialogue, but rich in imagery, follows their stories, revealing how sexist European culture is to this day - a culture that prevents them from fulfilling their dreams. A cinematographic voyage between two opposite seas - worlds apart - towards the evolution of two female identities on a quest for emancipation. How far can our passions lead us?
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Brunella Filì is a director, author and documentarist. With her first full-length feature, Emergency Exit – young Italians abroad, she wins awards for Best Direction and Best Film at numerous international festivals. Her last full-length feature film is Alla Salute(Cheers), released in 2018, with which she wins the Public and Jury Awards at the Biografilm International Film Festival. At present, she is preparing her next documentary projects, among which, A place to call Europe, winner of the Cariplo "SmartItUp."
Antonella Gaeta is a journalist and screenwriter hailing from the Province of Bari. She is linked by a long artistic partnership to the director Pippo Mezzapesa with whom she writes the screenplay of Zinanà (2004), Pinuccio Lovero - Sogno di una morte di mezza estate (Pinuccio Lovero - Yes I Can) (2008), L'altra metà (The Other Half) (2009) and Il paese delle spose infelici (Annalisa) (2011). Among her latest works, we find the documentary Bellissime (2019) by Elisa Amoroso and Ti mangio il cuore (Burning Hearts) (2022) by Pippo Mezzapesa, presented at the 79th edition of the Venice Film Festival.
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