囚鸟 Jailbird/2022

It is said that laughter is at its best when a smile breaks through tears. The name of the Italian-born world citizen Andrea Magnani should not be unknown to the audiences of PÖFF. Those who still remember the director’s wonderfully convivial debut “Easy” which was screened at the festival in 2017 and in which a sissy who has come to love food too much is suddenly placed in front of big life choices can probably guess the direction that the director’s new film may take.

For young Giacinto， prison is like home. It would indeed be more correct to say that prison is his only home， because the little boy has been born in prison and has spent his entire life in prison with his mother. Prison is the place where Giacinto truly breathes and lives， as that’s the place where he has been born， learnt to walk and love. As soon as the prison doors close behind him， the young man feels that life outside the prison walls is not for him. At the first opportunity， he escapes from the outside back to prison， his home， where he can feel safe from the dangerous outside world. But upon reaching adulthood， Giacinto has to make an important decision…

According to the director， the film was inspired by his own youth years in a small Italian town that felt like a prison to his young self， but was still so dear.

This immensely warm comedy with its scarce dialogue and silent film elements knows what the audience expects from a film in difficult times. It is simply brimming with human warmth that we so desperately need today.

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