Paris-based Italian director Tommaso Usberti’s romance “Before the War,” a reflection on racism and toxic masculinity set in the Northern Italian plains, is the big winner of the Venice Critics’ Week where it scooped the grand prize and the award for best producer.
“Before the War” — which is the only Italian entry in the section dedicated to first works from around the world — is the tale of a young man named Guido, raised within a Northern Italian racist milieu, who becomes attracted to a Kosovar immigrant named Sonia.
“Before the War” stars the director’s brother Piero Usberti as Guido and Luàna Bajrami as Sonia. The drama’s cast also comprises Massimiliano Balduzzi, Sebastien Halnaut and Cisky Capizzi.
In its statement, he Critics’ Week jury went on to praise “Before the War” for being a film “that relies as much on silence as on words, where sound and music become a battlefield in their own right to explore urgently contemporary themes: toxic masculinity, impossible desire and the individual’s profound loneliness.” They called it “a raw, evocative and deeply cinematic feature, both classic and innovative, revealing a strong and distinctive directorial voice.”
“Before the War” is produced by Thibault de Gantes, Lucas Le Postec (L’Heure d’été), Francesco Virga, Adele Dell’Erario, Marco Serrecchia (MIR Cinematografica) and Beatrice Bordone Bulgari (Eolo Film Productions). It’s being sold internationally by The Party Film Sales.
London-based Chilean-Indian director Shalini Adnani’s debut feature “Our Share of Sand,” about a 12-year-old girl named Maya who returns to rural India to reconnect with her estranged father, won the section’s audience award.
Fiction-documentary hybrid “The End of Times,” a political piece co-directed by Bibiana Rojas Gómez and Juan David Cárdenas that uses artificial intelligence and explores colonialism and capitalism in Colombian history, scooped both the best technical contribution award and a special mention.
Chinese drama “Zoom In, Zoom Out,” by Dong Jie — about a young video game designer who embarks on a journey to seek his missing roommate Gao following a clue hidden in an online game — scored the prize for the most innovative film in the selection, awarded by a separate jury.
