A CIAMBRA CWC D: Jonas Carpignano. Italy/France/ U.S./Germany. 120 min. Sep 7, 9:30 pm, Scotiabank 1 Sep 8, 10:30 am, TIFF Bell Lightbox 3 Sep 16, 9:30 am, Scotiabank 4. Rating: NNN
Writer/director Carpignano’s coming-of-age crowd-pleaser focuses on a 14-year-old Romani boy (Pio Amato) at the moment when his desire to grow up comes face to face with his misgivings about leaving childhood behind. Pio lives in a Calabrian town that is home to Roma people, Italians and North Africans.
The town’s inhabitants, all non-professionals, serve as the cast of this neo-realist drama. Carpignano’s keen observational eye and documentary style keep the proceedings engrossing even when the plot (such as it is) slackens. Pio’s irascible extended family is a director’s dream, and as the charismatic teen faces an uncertain adulthood, Amato clearly earns his star status.
