Friuli around 1900: Agata gives birth to a dead baby. When the priest refuses to bury the unbaptized child in the village cemetery, Agata goes against tradition. Hiding the little body in a box, she sets off on a journey - to a place in the mountains where stillborn children are supposed to be brought back to life for the length of a breath. Enough time to baptize the child and save it from purgatory. Shot entirely in the Furlan and Venetian dialects, director Laura Samani has succeeded in creating an impressive blend of magical realism, costume drama and western, which takes up a cultural practice that was still widespread in the Alps until the early 20th century.
Keywords
- Best first feature
- Cannes: La Semaine de la Critique
- European Film Awards
- Festival de Cannes
- Gender
- Italian Cinema
- Italian success
- TIFF - Toronto International Film Festival
- costume film
- history
- religion
- women
Actors
- Celeste Cescutti
- Ondina Quadri
Director
- Laura Samani
Mysterious story about a woman in rural Italy at the turn of the century, where Christianity and magic are intertwined.
Friuli around 1900: Agata gives birth to a dead baby. When the priest refuses to bury the unbaptized child in the village cemetery, Agata goes against tradition.
Hiding the little body in a box, she sets off on a journey - to a place in the mountains where stillborn children are supposed to be brought back to life for the length of a breath. Enough time to baptize the child and save it from purgatory.
Shot entirely in the Furlan and Venetian dialects, director Laura Samani has succeeded in creating an impressive blend of magical realism, costume drama and western, which takes up a cultural practice that was still widespread in the Alps until the early 20th century.