PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Laura Samani, director of the film Small Body.
After winning a David di Donatello award in Italy and representing Italy in Cannes 2021, Laura Samani and her debut feature Small Body land at the Sydney Film Festival in the program stand Europe! Voices of Women in Film.
Small Body: After birthing a stillborn child, the grieving Agata is tortured by her Catholic faith – specifically the belief that her baby’s soul lies in eternal Limbo. Hope comes in the form of a mystical sanctuary in the middle of the mountains which can allow her baby to live for just one breath – just long enough to be blessed. Against the wishes of her husband and community, Agata embarks on an Orphean journey across north-east Italy, along rivers and into forests brimming with ancient power. Echoing the folkloric aura of Alice Rohrwacher’s Happy as Lazzaro, Samani’s odyssey is stunning and strange in equal measure.
Jackie Chan will receive the 2025 Pardo alla Carriera at the Locarno Film Festival. The beloved action star will also present screenings of Project A and Police Story, followed by a public panel on August 10.
Juliette Binoche leads a distinguished jury featuring Halle Berry, Payal Kapadia, Alba Rohrwacher, Leïla Slimani, Dieudo Hamadi, Hong Sangsoo, Carlos Reygadas, and Jeremy Strong at the 78th Festival de Cannes.
For the first time in its history, the Cannes Film Festival reveals two official posters for its 78th edition, inspired by Claude Lelouch’s 1966 Palme d’Or-winning masterpiece A Man and a Woman.