Diciannove (Nineteen)
A playful character study of a restless nineteen-year-old boy who wants nothing more than to leave Palermo and his domineering mother behind. Feature film debut by an Italian filmmaker who worked as an assistant to Luca Guadagnino.
To escape his overbearing mother and the only life he’s known, Leonardo leaves picturesque Palermo to study in bustling London. His landing is buffered by his sister Arianna and her roommate Grazia, though the initial excitement of living abroad – and unrestricted partying – wanes quickly, and Leonardo finds himself enrolling at the University of Siena, focusing on Italian literature. Back in familiar surroundings, he falls in love with the medieval city, but is not so keen on his literature professor. Seeking that indescribable feeling of knowing you’ve found your place – beyond just geography – Leonardo delves into the classics independently. He moves to Turin, where his views on literature and the craft of writing become increasingly rigid.
Director and screenwriter Giovanni Tortorici says he kept Diciannove very close to his own life. In a fresh, playful style, he captures the chaotic, uncertain nature of growing up. Unlike Leonardo, Tortorici studied film in Turin, which led to a job as an assistant director to Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name). Guadagnino was enthusiastic about the script centring on the somewhat neurotic and lonely anti-hero, and decided to produce Tortorici’s debut film.