Upcoming Roman director Elisa Amoruso’s semi-autobiographical fiction debut chronicles a young girl’s plight as she strives to make sense of her place in the world under the not-so-watchful eyes of her dysfunctional parents.
It’s 1990 and 13-year-old Nina’s (Emma Fasano) incredibly messy family has been forced to move from the centre of Rome to its outskirts. While her parents (Micaela Ramazzotti and Giampaolo Morelli) are in a constant state of conflict, Nina starts classes at her new school, only to rapidly enter into explosive conflict with Sirley (Manon Bresch), a quarrelsome student from South America who dances the Lambada.
But antagonism quickly turns to friendship, and between the two an intense, very strong bond is created that will define their coming-of-age. Their friendship will lead Nina to discover her place not only in the world, but in the heart of her family.
Presented by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura Melbourne
Director: Elisa Amoruso
A screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, director and novelist, Amoruso is a graduate of both La Sapienza University of Rome and the Italian National Film School. Writer of several short films, Amoruso wrote the screenplays for Claudio Noce’s films Good Morning Aman (2007) and Ice Wood (2014). Her first documentary Off-Road (2013) received a special mention at Rome Film Festival, while Chiara Ferragni: Unposted (2019) screened at Venice Film Festival. Sirley is her first feature-length fiction film, based on her novel of the same name.