Mietta is an affluent Italian woman who has reached the threshold of old age, on her own and with an unfulfilled desire to be a mother. For the whole of her life she was a magistrate at the Juvenile Court in Milan, but she has never had a family of her own. Until Ibu returns from her past and suddenly everything changes. Twenty years earlier, when he had just arrived from Senegal, they had had a relationship. Today Ibu is married to a cousin of his, Boussò, and wants their child to be born in Italy. Mietta invites them to stay with her during the pregnancy. Soon however, what was supposed to be a temporary solution changes. After the birth of little Khadim, Mietta does not want to be separated from the baby and decides to sell what she has to buy a larger house where they can try to live all together. What does Mietta really expect from living together like this? Can they ever be a family?

I have known Mietta since childhood. She was a friend of the family, single and transgressive. I loved her cynic sense of humour and her libertine character. When, five years ago, I found out that she was selling her home to buy a bigger one where she could live with a couple of immigrants from Senegal and their little boy, I was amazed. At the age of 70, Mietta had decided to look for a family, to try out this adventure, once again outside all conventions. I was immediately fascinated by the idea of telling a story about living together, the possibility of capturing in the bud something that was like those forms of relationships described by anthropologists, far from the idea of the traditional family in the West, a sort of contemporary anthropological fairy tale. However, when filming, I found myself in front of a reality that was definitely more complex.

Director
Enrico Maisto
Story
Enrico Maisto
Screenplay
Enrico Maisto
Director of photography
Enrico Maisto
Original Music
Massimo Mariani
Executive production
Francesca Riccardi
Producer
Riccardo Annoni
Production
Start, Noha Film
con il sostegno di Film Commission Torino Piemonte - Piemonte Doc Film Fund - produzione dicembre 2023
Last update: 06 March 2024