BOYS WILL BE BOYS

DICIANNOVE

2024 / 109 min / color

19-year-old Leonardo (a superb performance from Manfredi Marini) is overjoyed to be leaving his overbearing mother and his hometown of Palermo and to start his studies in London. He moves in with his older sister (Vittoria Planeta) and her friend Grazia (Dana Giuliano). The girls aren’t too pleased about this turn of events, but they still do their best to introduce him to their rich social life. After a while, Leonardo decides that England is not for him, so he leaves for Siena to study classic Italian literature. But once again he fails to find himself, and has a particularly fraught relationship with his professor. Deeply disappointed, he heads to Turin, and there his life changes forever. Giovanni Tortorici’s debut had its world premiere at last year’s Venice Film Festival. The director paints a compassionate and tender portrait of his lost, wandering teenage protagonist whose neurotic behavior and indecisiveness are emblematic of a particular type of teenage masculinity.

• Hamburg FF – Best Feature Film