Paris-based Italian director Tommaso Usberti’s romance “Before the War,” a reflection on racism and toxic masculinity set in the Northern Italian plains, is the big winner of the Venice Critics’ Week where it scooped the grand prize and the award for best producer.
“Before the War” — which is the only Italian entry in the section dedicated to first works from around the world — is the tale of a young man named Guido, raised within a Northern Italian racist milieu, who becomes attracted to a Kosovar immigrant named Sonia.
“He has earned respect from his peers through violence in the racist and macho environment he grew up in,” says the synopsis. But when Guido meets Sonia, something shifts. He finds himself torn between the world that made him and the one that she is opening up for him.
The jury — made up of French director Chloé Barreau, Hungarian producer Júlia Berkes and Italian writer, cultural curator and film-industry professional Caterina Mazzucato — praised “Before the War” in a statement. “For its intense and vibrant direction, for the powerful and expressive talent of its lead actor, and for the mastery of its mise-en-scène, thanks to superbly crafted images in which bodies, faces and gestures create an impressive physical tension while provincial Italy becomes the stage for violent passions,” they said.
