Small Body

by Laura Samani

Synopsis

Logline

A grief-stricken young woman leaves her seaside village behind to try and free her stillborn baby’s soul, setting out on a perilous journey to a remote mountain sanctuary where she holds faith in a miracle.

Synopsis

Italy, 1900. Young Agata’s baby is stillborn and so condemned to Limbo. Agata hears about a place in the mountains, where infants can be brought back to life for just one breath, to baptize them and save their soul.

She undertakes a voyage with her daughter’s small body hidden in a box and meets Lynx, a solitary boy who offers to help her. They set off on an adventure which will enable both to come close to a miracle.

Specifications

Italy/Slovenia/France  2021  89mn  1.85:1  Italian dialect  1st Feature Film

Original title: Piccolo Corpo

directed by

Laura Samani

produced by

Nadia Trevisan, Alberto Fasulo

with RAI Cinema

co-produced by

Thomas Lambert, Danijel Hočevar

Cast

Ondina Quadri (Lynx)

Celeste Cescutti (Agata)

Crew

Marco Borromei, Elisa Dondi, Laura Samani, Co-writers

Mitja Ličen, Cinematographer

Rachele Meliadò, Art Direction

Chiara Dainese, Editor

Loredana Buscemi, Costume design

Fredrika Stahl, Original music

Luca Bertolin, Sound recordist

Riccardo Spagnol, Sound design

Nathalie Vidal, Re-recording mixer

Festivals & Awards

2021


Cannes World Premiere – Critics’ Week in Competition

Montenegro Film Festival

Sarajevo Film Festival

TIFF – Contemporary World Cinema

Hamburg Film Festival

Annecy Italian Film Festival – Audience Award

Villerupt Italian Film Festival – Special Jury Mention

BFI London Film Festival –  Special Commendation

Haifa Film Festival -Panorama

Montpellier – Cinemed- Students ‘ Award for best 1st feature

Busan International Film Festival – World Cinema

Warsaw Film Festival – Discoveries

Morelia Film Festival

Vancouver Film Festival

New Zealand International Film Festival

Scanorama Film Festival

Festa do Cinema Italiano (Lisbon) – Competition Best Film Winner

Stockholm Film Festival – Competition

Seville European Film Festival – Extraordinary Stories Award

Cambridge Film Festival

Thessaloniki Film Festival – Meet the Neighbors GOLDEN Alexander Award

Liffe Award Ljubljana – FIPRESCI Prize

Chéries, Chéris Film Festival France – Best Actresses Award for Celeste and Undine

Cairo Film Festival, SILVER PYRAMID, Best Director Award

REC Film Festival Tarragona – Best Debut Film, Special CineClub Jury Mention

2022


European Film Awards- EUROPEAN DISCOVERY PRIX FIPRESCI WINNER 

Dublin Film Festival – Best Filmmaker Award

Zinegoack Bilbao Queer Film Festival- Winner of the Best Feature 

Santa Barbara Film Festival

Boulder Film Festival

Cartagena International Film Festival- Fictions from everywhere

Wisconsin Film Festival

International Film Festival of Uruguay

Seattle International Film Festival

Italian Film Festival in Tokyo

Crossing Europe Austria

Minneapolis St Paul Film Festival-  Winner of the Emerging Filmmaker Competition

DAVID DI DONATELLO AWARD for Best first feature film

Flying Broom International Film Festival

Open Roads: New Italian Cinema. Film at Lincoln Center

Sydney International Film Festival- Europe! Voices of Women in Film 

Festival Cinéma Méditerranéen Tétouan- GRAND PRIX & CRITICS AWARD

Capital Film Festival

Gimli International Film Festival- International Fiction Features 

Atlàntida Film Fest Filmin- Fábulas generacionales y sus realidades 

Espoo Ciné Film Festival

Neue Heimat Film Festival Freistadt

Bucharest International Film Festival- Focus Italy 

Modolist Kyiv International Film Festival- Special Mention

ITALIAN GOLDEN GLOBE for Best first feature film

2023 


Stockfish Film Festival