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The 68th Berlinale will open on 15 February with an animation film for the very first time: the world premiere of “Isle of Dogs”, a film which, according to the Festival’s director Dieter Kosslick, “will capture the audience’s heart with the charm of Wes Anderson”.

The only Italian film in competition at the 68th Berlinale – from 15 to 25 February – is “Daughter of mine”, the second work by Laura Bispuri, produced by Vivo Film and Colorado Film with Rai Cinema, with the backing of Eurimages, MiBACT [Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism], the Regione Sardegna and the support of the Fondazione Sardegna Film Commission (FSFC).
A film which is just right for the Berlinale (Editor’s note: where Bispuri was previously in competition in 2015 with “Sworn Virgin”), as Nevina Satta, head of the FSFC points out: “with an extremely neorealist and, at the same time, visionary imagination. It is an edifying coming of age movie that has also discovered a young Sardinian talent, Sara Casu, the co-star, who has a great screen presence and blends well with the strength of Alba Rohrwacher and the adaptation skills of of Valeria Golino.”
An all-female story – the story of two mothers vying for one little girl – constructed in the region with highly accurate research into the locations: “Ours is a land with great matriarchal strength, this is why I invited Laura Bispuri to Sardinia where she spent several months meeting many communities of women and totally immerging herself in the region, from the south to the center, passing through Barbagia, and then decided to concentrate mainly on the lives of the shermen in Cabras.
The story subsequently developed in an unexpected way, there was a radical rewrite thanks to the interaction between a strong directorial idea and a territory that offered many suggestions. This was also translated into the introduction of local elements to the story, like the rodeo, or the work regarding the habits of family relations, the residences: thanks to Laura’s directorial rigor and preparation – she even wanted to go over the dialogues with a Sardinian coach – excellent dialectics were generated with the local actors who came from the world of experimental theater and cinema realized on the island as well as with the many people from the region who developed a fondness for the project.”

Last year Bispuri was at the Berlinale’s Co-production Market looking for co-producers for her movie which this year becomes a case study within a Green Talk hosted by the co-productions market presented by the film’s producer, Marta Donzelli who, with Vivo Film, decided to apply the Sardegna Green Film Shooting protocol.
Marta Donzelli says: “Daughter of mine is the first officially “green” film produced by Vivo Film. Many of our previous films were sustainable in an intuitive and unstructured way. We are very proud of this and thank the Sardegna Film Commission for having accompanied us on this journey by applying the island’s green protocol. Moving towards sustainability is now a necessary passage that cannot be deferred from an ethical viewpoint but is also economically advantageous for productions”.

Other traces of the Italian presence can be found in the Panorama section with “Boys cry”, the debut feature by two young directors from Rome, brothers Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo, produced by Pepito Produzioni with Rai Cinema and with the contribution of the MiBACT and Regione Lazio, starring Matteo Olivetti, Andrea Carpenzano, Milena Mancini, Max Tortora and Luca Zingaretti: the life of two good kids from the suburbi becomes intertwined with Mafia events.
“Land”, written and directed by the Iranian Babak Jalali, is a co-production between Italy (Asmara Film and Raicinema), France, Netherlands and Mexico: a story about a family of Native Americans in New Mexico.

We find another Italian in Generation Kplus: Gregorio Franchetti with his short movie, co-produced with the US, “Bobster Dinner”, starring Marta Zoffoli and Matteo De Buono.

Finally, the documentary “Lorello e Brunello” by Jacopo Quadri will be presented at the 12th edition of Culinary Cinema, the Berlinale’s cooking and cinema show: it is a story about the agricultural Maremma area produced by Vivo Film, Ubulibri and Rai Cinema.