Marco Zambrano

Billy was a child prodigy who had invented and hosted a successful music podcast at nine. He is now 19, lives with his eccentric mother, is secretly in love with a girl, only visits children aged between 8 and 12 and does not know what to do with his life.

"La Biennale di Venezia: il cinema al tempo del Covid" is a video diary, produced by the Venice Biennale in collaboration with Rai Cinema and the Istituto Luce Cinecittà, of what went on "backstage" at the 2020 Venice Film Festival, held under the restrictions imposed by the safety protocols required by the covid-19 pandemic.

Maria has always played the part of the caring mother and grandmother. Which is what everyone expected from her. A simple question opens her eyes, she realizes that she needs an authentic friendship. For the first time, she asks for help.

Giuseppe Bassi, a vivacious 100 years old man, tells his story about war and being held prisoner in Russia during Second World War. From 1942 to 1946 Giuseppe was a prisoner in several different camps: Tambow, Oranki and Suzdal. He got to know many people, heard lot of stories and came across a truly unique piece of reportage. The narrator and second character of the story is the actress Karina Arutyunyan who acts the part of a Russian woman that lives in Italy for years, whose grandfather fought on the Russian side during Second World War. The two characters in this story are emotionally very close; however, they are diametrically opposed. While Giuseppe and his story are both real, Katerina is a fictional character; that is how fiction and reality are closely intertwined along the story.

In a thermal bath town that withstands mass tourism, a builder and his surveyor partner start up an ambitious project: converting twenty abandoned hotels into luxury residences for wealthy retired people. The lack of financial support from the banks and investors triggers a domino effect in their destiny that forever subverts reality.

Piero Tortolina has been a point of reference for a whole generation of film lovers. Pioneer of cinema-clubs and great film collector, he has been an invisible protagonist in the history of italian cinema.