THURSDAY 20 NOV – H 21:30 – ROOM 1

CIAO BAMBINO
ITALY – 2024 – b/n – 95’

Direction: Edgardo Pistone
Screenplay: Edgardo Pistone, Ivan Ferone
Cinematography: Rosario Cammarota
Editing: Giogiò Franchini
Production design: Marcella Mosca
Music: K-Conjog
Costumes: Antonella Mignogna
Cast: Marco Adamo (Attilio), Anastasia Kaletchuk (Anastasia), Luciano Pistone (Luciano), Pasquale Esposito (Vittorio), Salvatore Pelliccia (Martinelli), Sergio Minucci (Nino), Luciano Gigante (Gerardo), Attilio Peluso (Angelo), Antonio Cirillo (Sandrino), Rosalia Zinno (Patrizia)
Producers: Gaetano Di Vaio, Walter de Majo, Alessandro Elia, Andrea Leone, Gianluca Curti
Production: Bronx Film, Anemone Film, Mosaicon Film, Minerva Pictures
World sales: Minerva Pictures Group

synopsis
At the end of the summer, nineteen-year-old Attilio, a young man who lives in a working-class neighborhood of Naples, is given the task of protecting a young prostitute from Eastern Europe. Unable to openly admit it even to himself, Attilio falls in love with her. However, when his father is released from prison and forced to repay a substantial debt, Attilio finds himself choosing between his love for the girl and his love for his father, putting his freedom—and the life he has known until then—at risk.

the director: EDGARDO PISTONE
Edgardo Pistone was born in 1990 and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples. He is a director, writer, photographer, and screenwriter. He worked as an assistant director on Selfie by Agostino Ferrente (presented at the 69th Berlinale and winner of the David di Donatello Award for Best Documentary in 2019). In 2015, he directed the short film Per un’ora d’amore, which won Best Self Produced Short at the Naples Film Festival. His most recent short film, Le Mosche (2021), won the 35th International Critics’ Week – Short Italian Cinema Award and the prize for Best Film (Fiction Shorts category) at the Lucania Film Festival.

awards and festivals
2024 Festa del Cinema di Roma – Freestyle: Best First Feature
2024 Tallinn Black Nights FF – First Feature Competition: Jury Special Prize
2024 Festival de Cinema Italiano no Brasil – Mostra Inéditos
2025 Sydney FF – Features
2025 Globi d’Oro: Best First Feature
2025 L’Heure d’Hiver FF