Francesco Sossai - THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
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About the speaker
Francesco Sossai was born in the Belluno Dolomites.
After earning a degree in English and German Literature at La Sapienza University, he graduated in directing from the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie in Berlin, where in 2021 he made Other Cannibals (presented, among others, at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and the Vancouver International Film Festival).
His short film The Birthday Party (Il compleanno di Enrico, 2023), which had its world premiere at the Quinzaine des Cinéastes at the Cannes Film Festival, was nominated for the Deutscher Filmpreis and shortlisted for both the European Film Awards and the César Awards.
His second feature film, The Cities of the Plain (Le città di pianura), starring Filippo Scotti, Sergio Romano, and Pierpaolo Capovilla, had its world premiere in competition in the Un Certain Regard section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival. It will be released in Italian cinemas on September 25.
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We are delighted to welcome Francesco Sossai, a rising voice in Italian cinema, to CreativeMornings Venice for a special screening and conversation around his latest film The Birthday Party (Il compleanno di Enrico), 2023 [17'16"].
Set in December 1999, in the shadow of the Millennium Bug and the uncertain dawn of a new century, The Birthday Party recalls the childhood memory of Enrico’s birthday in a countryside farmhouse. What begins as a simple gathering becomes a journey through the fragile, dreamlike texture of memory.
Through a deeply personal and poetic lens, Sossai explores how we remember - how insignificant details become monumental, how landscapes take on emotional weight, and how the uncanny weaves itself into childhood recollections. The film unfolds as a meditation on growing up: the allure of other people’s houses, the presence of stern fathers and vanishing grandmothers, mothers who must raise their voices to be heard. It captures a world at a moment of transition - between past and future, war and peace, innocence and looming uncertainty.
Shot in the director’s native landscapes, The Birthday Party becomes both intimate diary and universal reflection, an invitation to revisit the blurred edges of our own memories.
Join us on Friday, August 29th, at 9:00 am in Venice (exact location to be announced) for this special event with Francesco Sossai, as we dive into cinema, memory, and the power of storytelling.
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