Sara Fgaier to make her debut in Locarno's competition with Weightless

by Vittoria Scarpa

12/07/2024 - The first feature film by Pietro Marcello’s former collaborator is produced by Limen, Avventurosa, Dugong Films and RAI Cinema International, with the latter also handling international sales

Sara Fgaier to make her debut in Locarno's competition with Weightless

La Spezia-born director Sara Fgaier is set to make her debut at the 77th Locarno Film Festival with her first feature film, Weightless [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sara Fgaier
film profile], which will be presented in a world premiere among the 17 titles selected for the International Competition.

Developed and financed by TorinoFimLab in 2022, an initiative which oversaw the finalisation of the film’s screenplay and which supported the project financially by way of a TFL Production Award worth €40,000, the movie is produced by Limen, Avventurosa, Dugong Films and RAI Cinema International. International sales are entrusted to RAI Cinema International Distribution while distribution in Italy falls to Luce Cinecittà.

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Weightless follows Gian, an ethnomusicology teacher battling against the shadow cast by a sudden amnesia attack. In his apartment within an old building located in a city next to the sea, he experiences flashbacks and dreams which he can’t decipher and which linger in his mind. Overcome with anxiety, he tries to end it all with medicine he finds at home, but luckily his suicide attempt fails. Following this episode, his daughter Miriam, whom Gian no longer recognises, moves in with him and hands him an old diary which he wrote when he was twenty and which revolves around Leila, a girl who introduced him to love in the space of one night. Who is this woman who was so important in his life? Where has she become? How could he have forgotten her? Gian’s timeless present is slowly replaced by vivid images from his past. Will he manage to find himself again and experience a revelation? What is it exactly that awakens our memories?

Sara Fgaier graduated from the Fare Cinema Film School in Bobbio, Italy, mentored by Marco Bellocchio, and previously directed the short film Gli anni (2018), which won the EFA for Best European Short, as well as a Nastro d'Argento award, following its selection in the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti line-up. She has worked on various films as an editor and producer, including The Mouth of the Wolf [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pietro Marcello
film profile] and Lost and Beautiful [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pietro Marcello
film profile] by Pietro Marcello.