pro-bassoonist

Nominated for Best New Director (Francesco Patierno) for this year's David di Donatello Awards Pater Familias has just been released in Italy (the DVD offers English subs). The film was also part of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival (2003), Cannes and Gothenburg Film Festivals (2004).


Short film synopsis:

" Italy 2002; 99 min.

A stylish memory film, Francesco Patierno's first feature is a ripe combination of poetic visuals and hard-as-nails drama. Matteo (a star-making performance from Luigi Iacuzio), 30, has been in prison for ten years. Granted a one-day leave, he heads back to his home village near Naples in order to help his dying father get his papers in order. Over the course of the next 24 hours, Matteo will reconnect with his childhood, renew ties with Rosa (Federica Bonavolontà), his secret love stuck in a marriage from hell, and, through a series of flashbacks, reflect on the fates of his closest friends, all dead through foul play or misadventure.
Pater Familias draws its power from the juxtaposition of the harsh realities of life in Matteo's village (doubly hard on women) and the lyrical visual style Patierno brings to the material. Make no mistake though, this is a film that doesn't pull its punches in its depiction of dysfunctional marriages and going-nowhere young men, men for whom violence and brutality are second nature.
(Source: Jack Vermee - Palm Springs International Film Festival)"













Official Film site-
http://www.paterfamilias.it/


Cheers,
Pro-B