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Nicola Sorcinelli’s feature directorial debut, Balcanica, will have its world premiere in the Venice Days competition at the Venice Film Festival on Friday.
The film stars Matilda De Angelis and Berlin Silver Bear winner Babak Karimi, alongside Ivar Wafaei and Giovanni Toscano.
Balcanica follows Nazar, an Afghan orchestra conductor, and his son Jalil, a tuba player, who are forced to flee their country after music is banned. They embark on the Balkan route toward Italy in search of a place where they can perform again.
During their journey, they meet Greta, an Italian doctor, and the three are confronted with difficult choices that could change their lives.
Sorcinelli co-wrote the screenplay with Andrea Brusa. Damjan Radovanović handled cinematography, while Ian Degrassi edited the film.
The film is produced by Nightswim and Wildside, a Fremantle company, in co-production with This and That Productions and Antitalent, with M74 and Nieminen Film also attached. m-appeal is handling international sales, while Fandango will distribute the film in Italy.
Sorcinelli said the film was inspired partly by his grandmother’s memories of fighting for freedom in the 1940s and his lasting response to reports of music being banned in Afghanistan.
He described Balcanica as a story of endurance, loss and resistance, focusing on freedom, migration and the human body’s ability to withstand violence, fear and rejection while crossing borders.
