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La Biennale di Venezia

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Cinema

Nessun dolore

Venice Open – Out of Competition
Director:
Gianni Amelio
Production:
Kavac Film (Simone Gattoni, Marco Bellocchio), Our Films (Lorenzo Mieli, Mario Gianani), Be Water Film (Mattia Guerra)mwith Rai Cinema
Running Time:
96’
Language:
Italian, Arabic, French
Country:
Italy
Main Cast:
Alessandro Borghi, Valeria Golino, Valerio Mastandrea, Beidja Yahiaoui, Ramzi Lafrindi, Gabriel Bovino
Screenplay:
Gianni Amelio, Davide Serino with Andrea Quetti
Cinematographer:
Luan Amelio Ujkaj
Editor:
Stefano Mariotti
Production Designer:
Andrea Castorina
Costume Designer:
Valentina Monticelli
Music:
Fabio Massimo Capogrosso
Sound:
Emanuele Cicconi, Andrea Caretti
Visual Effects:
Chromatica
Makeup:Roberto Pastore

Program Cinema 2026 (Public)

Sala Grande More
PalaBiennale More

Program Cinema 2026 (Pass holders)

Sala Grande More
Sala Darsena More
Sala Grande More
PalaBiennale More

synopsis

Davide, a thirty-something bookseller, spends his days selling second-hand books in a Roman square. His most devoted customer, Elsa, is also his closest ally: she keeps him supplied with used books and surrounds him with warmth and affection. Then, on what begins as an ordinary day, everything changes. A young boy from North Africa is suddenly thrust into Davide’s care, as though he were a parcel delivered on the street. Silent and unwavering, the child follows him everywhere, like a loyal puppy.
When an accident leaves the boy fighting for his life, Davide is forced into a personal descent into hell, haunted by diffidence, guilt and disorientation. One night, in the unlikely sanctuary of a hospital emergency ward, Davide meets Aminah, a teenage girl who has just arrived from Algeria on a migrant boat. Soaked by the rain, frightened and heavily pregnant, she has nowhere to go. Davide can do nothing but take her into his home.
It is only the beginning. Night after night, he returns from work to find more strangers living in his apartment. He resists at first, but eventually gives in — out of compassion, or perhaps simply because he cannot say no. His home gradually becomes a shelter for people with nowhere else to turn, those forced to sleep beneath bridges or on the streets.
When his neighbours report him to the authorities, Davide is imprisoned for assisting undocumented migrants. What unfolds is an odyssey that extends far beyond his own story, profoundly reshaping the lives of everyone it touches.

Director’s Statement

Nessun dolore is my attempt to move beyond the story of migration I explored in Lamerica thirty years ago, ending with that suspended image of a ship in the middle of the Adriatic. Since then, what has really changed? Who is “the immigrant”? Someone to embrace, or someone to reject? A new friend, or a dangerous stranger? The knot has only tightened over the years. The issue has become more acute, and no reasonable way forward seems visible. Yet perhaps there is no definitive “solution”, or perhaps we lack the will to search for one.
Perhaps it can only be found in the minds and hearts of each of us — assuming we have not already squandered, among our many missed opportunities, the chance to recognise one another as fellow human beings, a difficult and risky undertaking.

production/distribution

PRODUCTION 1:
Kavac Film - Simone Gattoni, Marco Bellocchio,
Nomentana 186
00162 Roma, Italy
Tel: +39 06 69343930
E-mail: info@kavacfilm.com
Web: http://www.kavacfilm.com

PRODUCTION 2:
Our Films - Lorenzo Mieli, Mario Gianani,
Via Giovanni Nicotera 29
00195 Roma, Italy
E-mail: info@ourfilms.it
Web: http://www.ourfilms.it

PRODUCTION 3:
Be Water Film - Mattia Guerra,
Via Merulana 247
00185 Roma, Italy
E-mail: info@bewatermedia.it
Web: http://bewaterfilm.it

PRODUCTION 4:
Rai Cinema – Paolo Del Brocco
Piazza Adriana, 12
00193 Roma, Italy
E-mail: anna.pomara@raicinema.it
Web: https://www.rai.it/raicinema/

WORLD SALES:
Rai Cinema International - Fulvio Firrito
Piazza Adriana 12
00193 Roma, Italy
E-mail: fulvio.firrito@raicinema.it Web: http://www.raicinemainternationaldistribution.com

ITALIAN DISTRIBUTION:
01 Distribution - Luigi Lonigro
Piazza Adriana 12
00193 Roma, Italy
E-mail: soniapisana.dichter@raicinema.it

PRESS OFFICE:
Gloria Zerbinati
Tel: +33 7 86 80 02 82
E-mail: gloria.zerbinati@gmail.com

ITALIAN PRESS OFFICE:
Viviana Ronzitti - KINORAMA Sas
Tel: +39 333 2393414
E-mail: ronzitti@kinoweb.it


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