Prima della Guerra
Date:
January 9, 2023
Prima della Guerra
Prima della Guerra
by Tommaso Usberti
L’HEURE D’ETE | France
Mir Cinematografica | Italy
1st feature
Looking for Gap-Financing, Post-production services, Festival Release
Logline
In the suffocating heat of the Lombard countryside, a restless mechanic spirals into violence and shame after a fleeting encounter with a young Albanian woman forces him to confront the brutality that defines his world — and himself.
Synopsis
Guido (23) lives in Piadena, a town shaped by industrial agriculture in the Po Valley. Fatherless and adopted, obsessed with hunting and a habitual seducer, he has earned respect in his environment through violence. His encounter with Sonia, a young woman who has come from Kosovo to visit her family for the summer, unexpectedly exposes all his fragilities, forcing him to choose between his love for Sonia and everyone who stands against it.
Director’s Profile
Tommaso Usberti was born and raised in Italy. He graduated from La Fémis with Deux égarés sont morts, which won the 3rd Prize of the Cinéfondation at Cannes in 2017.
After the short films T’avais pas peur avant (2018 – La Fémis, ARTE) and Un ragazzo violento (2020), he is currently working on his first feature film Arriva la Guerra (formerly I giorni più intensi di Guido Kalb), developed at the Cinéfondation Residence in Cannes, with support from the Île-de-France Region writing grant and Cinemed.
His films focus on issues of identity in rural areas of the Italian provinces, approached through a combination of romanticism and raw realism.
Company Profile
MIR Cinematografica is an independent production company founded in 2005, producing creative films and documentaries with some of the most compelling Italian filmmakers. Its works have been selected and awarded at major international festivals including Venice, Cannes,
Berlin and Locarno. LIBERAMI by FedericaDi Giacomo was awarded the Lion for Best Film in the Orizzonti Competition at the 73rd Venice Film Festival, David di Donatello Awards, and shortlisted for the European Film Awards (EFA). The latest release TONI, MY FATHER by Anna Negri was premiered in Giornate degli Autori/Venice FF 2025.