17/05/2003 - Critics plaud Il cuore altrove, a touching and minimalist love story between a man and a beautiful blind young girl, set against the backdrop of 1920s Italy

The closing titles of Il cuore altrove by veteran Italian director Pupi Avati rolled to applause when the film was screened in competiton today. At the subsequent press conference, praise was lavished on the cast that includes Vanessa Incontrada, Neri Marcoré, Nino d’Angelo, Sandra Milo and Giulio Bosetti, as well as its producer, Antonio Avati. A Rome-based journalist went so far as to say that the film "hypontized" her. Il Cuore Altrove is scheduled for release France in November, distributed by Océan.

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“My film is a small production, not extremely ambitious, but therapeutic,” said the director on the eve of the gala reception where one of the many guests of honour is Italian culture minister, Giuliano Urbani. The film is "therapeutic" because it’s renewed the director’s desire to make films and won audience approval, something that was missing from Avati's last feature I cavalieri che fecero l’impresa.