The films in competition for the Orizzonti Section of the Venice International Film Festival have been announced. Among the selected works is Diciannove by Giovanni Tortorici, produced by Frenesy, Pinball London, MeMo, AG Studios, and Tenderstories.

The cast features Manfredi Marini, Vittoria Planeta, Dana Giuliano, Zackari Delmas, Luca Lazzareschi, Sergio Benvenuto.

Synopsis of the film

Leonardo, 19, leaves Palermo to start university in London. However, living with his sister and her roommate, the initial excitement soon wanes. Restless, he impulsively enrolls at the Universita di Siena to study literature and falls in love with the city. Yet, finding his literature professor unbearable, he quits and decides to dive into Italian classics by himself. This reflective solitude sparks an inner journey of self-discovery, intensified by encounters with vibrant youth. A year after, Leonardo travels to Torino and meets a man who may relieve him from his obsessions.

Director’s notes

Conceived as a 19-year-old boy’s investigation, and subsequently structured as a journey through the obsessions, insecurities and idiosyncrasies of its leading character, the film is a coming-of-age story that spontaneously observes the emotional state of a young man in a confusing time of his life. My intention is to transport the viewer’s gaze into the dynamics that shape his inner life.

Leonardo is initially introduced as a bright, sociable, and easygoing boy, yet as the story unfolds, we notice his broken and suspended nature. We stand with him amid the excitement of late nights and his obsession with pre 20th century’s literature textbooks. For that matter, the film is concerned with observing the academic year of a boy like so many others, disoriented and without footholds to cling to.

The film becomes an immersive experience among the crises and insecurities of a young man who is disturbed by what he feels, wrapped up in the constant friction between what’s growing inside him and what he’s unable to express externally. In fact, the film alternates between “extreme” tones and volumes and then, all of a sudden, becomes quiet and calm. We are catapulted into the turmoil of a boiling young mind.