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PRODUCTION / FUNDING Italy

Una femmina – The Code of Silence lands in Berlin

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- Francesco Costabile’s debut film will be presented within the Panorama section of the 72nd Berlinale before hitting Italian cinemas on 17 February

Una femmina – The Code of Silence lands in Berlin
Mario Russo and Lina Siciliano in Una femmina – The Code of Silence

Based upon journalist Lirio Abbate’s investigative book “Fimmine ribelli” (published by Bur Rizzoli) examining female victims of violence in families belonging to Calabria’s 'Ndrangheta, Una femmina – The Code of Silence [+see also:
trailer
interview: Francesco Costabile
film profile
]
marks the feature film debut of Francesco Costabile (Cosenza, class of 1980) which international critics and audiences will get the opportunity to enjoy in a premiere at the upcoming Berlin Film Festival, where it has been selected for the Panorama section.

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Already the author of several short films and documentaries (including Dentro Roma, which won the Silver Ribbon for Best Short, and In A Future April (The Young Pasolini) [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, a doc about Pier Paolo Pasolini which was awarded a Special Mention at the 16th Biografilm Festival in Bologna), the 41-year-old Calabrian director also signs his name to the screenplay – born out of an idea by Lirio Abbate and the director of Indivisibile [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Edoardo de Angelis
film profile
]
Edoardo De Angelis – alongside the very same Abbate, Serena Brugnolo and Adriano Chiarelli.

Rosa is a restless and rebellious girl who lives with her grandmother and uncle in a Calabrian village, nestled between mountains and dry rivers. Her daily life is suddenly upturned by a matter which resurfaces from her past, a trauma which inextricably links her to her mother’s mysterious death. When Rosa realises her fate has all but been decided, she chooses to betray her family and seek out her own blood feud. But when your family is part of ‘Ndrangheta, each and every move can prove fatal.

“We couldn’t have found a more fitting international premiere”, Costabile enthused. “Una femmina - The Code of Silence is a film where the violence enacted upon women’s bodies is central to the story. Rosa’s story is that of many women who rebel against an all but decided fate. It’s an honour for me to make my debut in a festival which is so sensitive to gender politics”.

The cast includes Lina Siciliano, Fabrizio Ferracane (whom we’ll also be seeing in Paolo Taviani’s film Leonora Addio [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paolo Taviani
film profile
]
at the very same festival), Anna Maria De Luca (Padrenostro [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claudio Noce
film profile
]
) and Simona Malato (The Macaluso Sisters [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), alongside Luca Massaro, Mario Russo, Vincenzo Di Rosa and Francesca Ritrovato.

Una femmina - The Code of Silence is produced by Attilio De Razza, Pierpaolo Verga, Nicola Picone and Edoardo De Angelis on behalf of Tramp Limited and O' Groove, in collaboration with Medusa Film and Prime Video, and with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The movie will hit Italian cinemas on 17 February, courtesy of Medusa.

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(Translated from Italian)

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