In White Lies [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film], Alba Zari uses her art to confront a past that is not her own. Born into the controversial Children of God sect, she has no memories of her childhood. Driven by a desire for truth, Alba embarks on a painful confrontation with her mother and grandmother to understand the reasons that led them to join the cult and the painful consequences of those choices.

The pic, billed as “a touching and intimate portrait of her search for identity” as well as “a journey that delves deep into family wounds”, is set to celebrate its international premiere in the Bright Future strand of the ongoing IFFR (29 January-8 February) after being screened at Popoli last year (1-9 November) and Trieste (16-25 January) just last month.

Born in Bangkok in 1987, Zari is a DAMS Bologna graduate who studied at the International Center of Photography in New York and NABA in Milan. Working across photography and film, her practice investigates memory, identity and marginality, shaped by a nomadic life. She received the Foam Talents Award (2020), the Graziadei Prize (2021) and the Jury Prize at Images Vevey (2022). Her work has been shown at venues including MAXXI Rome and Circulation(s) Paris, and her short film Freikörperkultur (2021) premiered in Venice’s International Film Critics’ Week.

White Lies was produced by Manuela Buono for Italy’s Slingshot Films, in association with Stéphane Rigotti and Benoît Ressone for Belgium’s Agent Double Productions. The project received backing from Italy’s Ministry of Culture, its Italy-France Co-development Fund, Friuli-Venezia Giulia’s Fondo Regionale per l'Audiovisivo, RE-ACT Regional Audiovisual Cooperation and Training, the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Film Commission, the Film Commission Regione Campania, the Belgian Tax Shelter, Go West Invest SA, CP Infirmière SN and Garage Guérin.

Check out our exclusive trailer below: