Freedom

Colour, 35 mm
Italy, 2009, 102 min
IP – International premiere
Section: Official Selection - Competition

Synopsis

Young avantgarde theatre director Irena Mirković accepts a proposal put forward by prison chaplain Don Iridio: to attempt to stage an Easter Passion play with inmates of the local detention centre. However, she has no idea that the experience will change her life. Not only because her encounter with prison warden Libero will encourage her to finally break off her relationship with the egocentric actor Cristiano, but also since she will soon find herself grappling with an insoluble problem: while she gains the confidence of the inmates, she finds out that no-one is willing to accept the part of Judas – for reasons that are quite obvious, given their circumstances. So the young woman has to find an alternative solution, which she does, in an original but considerably non-conformist adaptation of the biblical text. Davide Ferrario shot his musical comedy in a penitentiary in Turin and most of the characters are played by real prisoners. He entrusted the role of the director to the Polish model and actress Kasia Smutniak, who has lived in Italy for many years and is often sought after for film appearances. She began with small television roles, later appearing in more challenging film projects.

About the director

Davide Ferrario (b. 1956, Castelmaggiore, Italy) began as a film critic; in 1984 he published a book about R.W. Fassbinder and, in 1985, he appeared in John Sayles’s film Matewan. In 1987 he made the short film Don’t Feed the Animals (Non date da mangiare agli animali). 1989 was the year of his first feature film The End of the Night (La fine della notte). He gained popularity with the documentaries Far from Rome (Lontano da Roma, 1991) about the Northern League, Partisans (Partigiani, 1997) and Primo Levi’s Journey (La strada di Levi, 2006), screened at a number of festivals, and the comedy We All Fall Down (Tutti giù per terra, 1997). His next film After Midnight (Dopo mezzanotte, 2006) won five nominations for the David di Donatello award.