A CIAMBRA
2017, 118’
Directed by: Jonas Carpignano
Country: Italy, USA, France, Germany, Brazil, Sweden
Distribution: Academy Two
Language: o.v. Italian
In the small Roma community of Ciambra, near Gioia Tauro in Calabria, Pio Amato lives by petty theft, swindling, and dealing with the local underworld. Fourteen years old, he drinks, smokes, and tries to follow in the footsteps of his revered brother Cosimo, who teaches him how to survive on the streets of his town. When Cosimo is arrested, Pio must prove to himself and his family that he is capable of stepping into his brother’s shoes and decide if he is ready to become a man. In his second feature film, Jonas Carpignano discreetly observes the ups and downs in the life of a young Roma boy, constructing a surprising and anomalous coming-of-age tale that is both delicate and powerful, revealing without preconceptions the dynamics of a little-known world. Co-produced by Martin Scorsese and presented at the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017, A Ciambra won the Europa Cinema Label on that occasion and, in 2018, the David di Donatello for Best Director.
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