(2023, Italia, Belgio, 113')
A group of longtime friends meet at a seaside villa to celebrate the birthday of one of them. While partying, the friends learn of a horrifying piece of news: the world as they know it might come to an end in the matter of hours. The time of the apocalypse feels different now, sometimes quicker, sometimes eternal, as the friends spend their last hours in a summer’s night that will change them forever.
Born in Carpi, Italy, in 1933, the ancient literature graduate studied cinema in Rome and started her career as a director of documentaries and socio-political short films for national broadcaster RAI, including 1965 Golden Lion winner Philippe Pétain: processo a Vichy. Liliana Cavani dedicated two films to Francis of Assisi, though the list of her great auteur titles is quite long: The Night Porter, Beyond Good and Evil, The Skin, The Cannibals, Beyond the Door. Her 1993 movie Where Are You? I’m Here earned Anna Bonaiuto a Coppa Volpi for Best Actress. In 2012, her short Clarisse won the Pasinetti Award, and in the same year, Cavani was awarded Donatello’s David.
