Among the awards handed out by the jury of film journalists at the 2025 Nastri d’Argento, the award for Best Original Subject goes to Enrico Audenino and Valerio Mastandrea for Nonostante.

The award recognises an idea rooted in an unusual setting: a hospital where tired, restless figures drift through the corridors. They are souls in suspension, their bodies lying in comas, caught between this world and whatever lies beyond it. Then a new patient arrives, and with her comes something like a jolt: rebellion, feeling, a stubborn will to hold on to life. Nonostante, which translates, roughly, as “In spite of everything.”

Mastandrea also directs the film and stars alongside Dolores Fonzi, Lino Musella, Laura Morante, Giorgio Montanini, and Barbara Ronchi. The film premiered at the 81st Venice Film Festival as the opening title of the Orizzonti section, and was released in Italian cinemas on 27 March 2025 through BIM Distribuzione.