''Felicità'' (''Happiness'') is a 2023 Italian comedy-drama film co-written and directed by

Micaela Ramazzotti Micaela Ramazzotti (born 17 January 1979) is an Italian actress. Her film credits include '' Non prendere impegni stasera'', ''The First Beautiful Thing'' and '' The Big Heart of the Girls''. Ramazzotti was a regular cast member of the show '' C ...

, at her feature film debut. It premiered at the

80th Venice International Film Festival The 80th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 30 August to 9 September 2023, at Venice Lido in Italy. Alberto Barbera, Venice's artistic director, acknowledged that the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike was likely to impact the festival ...

Plot

Cast

as Desirée Mazzoni * Matteo Olivetti as Claudio Mazzoni * Max Tortora as Max Mazzoni *

Anna Galiena Anna Galiena (born 22 December 1949) is an Italian actress, best known to English-speaking audiences for her appearances in '' Le Mari de la coiffeuse'', ''Jamón jamón'', '' Being Human'' and '' Senso '45''. Career She was born in a family t ...

as Floriana Mazzoni *

Sergio Rubini Sergio Rubini (born 21 December 1959) is an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter. Life and career Rubini was born in Grumo Appula, Apulia, but soon moved to Rome to study acting. After some roles in theatre, he debuted in a feature f ...

as Bruno * Beatrice Vendramin as Ludovica * Marco Cocci as Riccardo Montero * Massimiliano Franciosa as Luciano * Isabella Cecchi as Psichiatrist *

Giovanni Veronesi Giovanni Veronesi (born 1962) is an Italian film screenwriter, actor and director. Born in Prato, he is the brother of the writer Sandro Veronesi (writer), Sandro Veronesi. He started his career writing scripts for directors such as Francesco N ...

as Himself *

Florence Guérin Florence Guérin (born 12 June 1965) is a French actress. She appeared in film and in television roles between 1983 and 1990. Selected filmography *1983: ''Black Venus'' as Louise *1985: ''Le déclic'' as Claudia Christiani *1986: ''La Bonne'' ...

Production

Ramazzotti cited

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

as the main inspiration for her directorial debut. The film was produced by Leone Film Group, the production company of

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone ( ; ; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian filmmaker, credited as the pioneer of the spaghetti Western genre. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. Leone's film-making style ...

's daughter and son Raffaella and Andrea, with Lotus Production. It was shot between

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Fiumicino Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the ninth-b ...

Release

The film premiered at the

, in the Orizzonti Extra section, where it won the Audience Award. It was released in Italian cinemas on 21 September 2023.

Reception

For this film Ramazzotti was nominated for two

David di Donatello The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David (Donatello, bronze), David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the ''Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (the Academy of Italian Cin ...

awards, both in the

best new director ''Best New Director'' was an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle from its first inception in 1989 until discontinuing in 1996. There was no award in 1993. 1980s 1989 *Kenneth Branagh – ''Henry V'' **Runners-up: Steve Kloves – '' ...

and

best actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

categories.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2023 comedy-drama films 2023 films Italian comedy-drama films 2023 directorial debut films