28/01/2026 - In Erik Bernasconi’s latest feature, a boy trying to find his way in the world finds himself contending with the impositions of adults and the torments which characterise adolescence

An explosive blend of kind-heartedness and rebellion, the protagonist of Becaària - Ticino-born director Erik Bernasconi’s latest feature film which is competing for the Audience Award in the Solothurn Film Festival – is charming for his weaknesses and unashamed awkwardness in a world which would sooner see him upstanding, strong and determined: a “real man”. What’s surprising with this film is the director’s sensitive approach to exploring the experience of adolescence in peripheral contexts without descending into miserabilism. Paradoxically, perhaps, the film’s protagonist, Mario, gets his first inebriating taste of freedom in a Ticino village rather than in the chaos of a city. What matters for him isn’t so much the frenzy of a big city, but the emotions born out of unexpected encounters and contact with the natural world which goes from being an enemy to a companion on his adventures. Based on Giorgio Genetelli’s novel of the same name, Becaària is a film about becoming an adult in a world where normality is synonymous with conformity, a film whose protagonist fights to escape rules he considers absurd and social impositions he chooses not to follow, instead imposing his own world view.

It’s 1977, and 16-year-old Mario (Francesco Tozzi) is trying to survive a school year characterised by disappointment and crushing losses. Mario lives in a village in Ticino, surrounded by nature, a place that isn’t easy to escape, a kind of gilded prison which is becoming increasingly suffocating. It’s not easy living with his parents, especially his father, and their arguments have become an everything occurrence. His village seems to be suspended in time while society around him is changing at unsettling speed. While his family bury their heads into the sands of reassuring normality, Mario struggles to find his place in the world, to give free rein to his ambitions and to satisfy his thirst for freedom. Determined to curb his son’s rebellious impulses, Mario’s father sends him to work on a farm in the mountains and to live with a couple of farmers whose “rebellious” daughter, Prisca (Sinéad Thornhill), is studying far from home. It’s here, in this backwater hamlet which seems fairly welcoming but which is actually governed by implicit rules, that Becaària’s protagonist finds his way. Accompanied on this destabilising yet fascinating journey of personal growth by a surprisingly open-minded doctor-come-mentor and an independent young woman who initiates him into the pleasures of free love, Mario realises that following your dreams is what really matters the most.

What’s astonishing about the protagonist of Becaària is his desire to deconstruct gender stereotypes and to impose his own identity, regardless of social dictates or the grotesque myths revolving around the meaning of “man”. Mario has no intention of following in the footsteps of his father, a patriarchal stereotype who believes he should carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. What he actually wants is to be guided by his instinct and naivety, which he sees as strengths rather than weaknesses. At the end of the film, his father turns out to be far more open-minded than Mario thought, but breaking away from his family is nonetheless essential in order to evolve and find his place in the world.

An explosive blend of beautiful landscapes reminiscent of Segantini’s works and the sweet innocence of The Party, Becaària is a seemingly light-hearted film which ultimately stresses that growing up doesn’t mean giving up on your dreams. On the contrary, we need to protect them from the world’s superficiality with all our might, as if our lives depended on it.

Becaària was produced by Cinédokké and Cineworx Filmproduktion Basel, in co-production with RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera and 1291 Productions.

(Translated from Italian)