Private Project

Bene Culturale (A Cultural Good)

"Talent is beauty, is pain, is perfection, is talent, is beauty, is pain, is perfection..."

Stranded in an abandoned Italian seaside town, a man is desperately searching for inspiration. When he finds his first muse, he will use any means necessary to make her immortal.

(German-Italian co-production; 14min; 2K DCP; English 5.1 mix)

  • Dominik Balkow
    Director
    O, Aphasie
  • Dominik Balkow
    Writer
    O, Aphasie
  • Bianca Delpiano
    Writer
  • Dominik Balkow
    Producer
  • Nadine Scheidecker
    Producer
  • Massimo Magnani
    Key Cast
    "Lui"
  • Eleonora Landi
    Key Cast
    "his first muse"
  • Janosch Andreas
    Key Cast
    "the boy"
  • Michael S. Ruscheinsky
    Key Cast
    "the curator"
    The Ghost Writer, Retribution, The Cut, Babylon Berlin
  • Jakob Creutzburg
    Director of Photography
    Browser Balett, Therapie, Krass Klassenfahrt, Deathcember
  • Jacopo Gioacchini
    Sound
  • René Schostak
    Sound Designer & Music Composer
    O, Aphasie
  • Vanessa Rossi
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Mystery, Arthouse, Horror, Dark Drama, Genre Film
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 29 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 1, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany, Italy
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2,35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 21. Fright Nights Film Festival
    Linz
    Austria
    October 24, 2025
    Austrian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 19. Spooky Empire International Film Festival
    Orlando, Florida
    United States
    October 31, 2025
    North American Premiere, US Premiere
    Arthouse Selection
  • 08. South African Independent Film Festival
    Cape Town & Johannesburg
    South Africa
    December 6, 2025
    South African Premiere
Director Biography - Dominik Balkow

Dominik Balkow studied film directing in Berlin, Germany. After graduating in 2012, he worked independently as a director on over 70 music clips (incl. Anti-Flag, Billy Talent, Nina Hagen, Kontra K, Haudegen, Unheilig & Yiruma). His last short film "O" won (among over 25 other awards) the prestige "Méliès d'Argent" as best European short film.
His feature film debut "Aphasie" (English: Aphasia) premiered in 2022/2023 on festivals worldwide and is now as VOD on most big streaming platforms.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

"BENE CULTURALE" is a short film about the romantasicm of suffering in the name of art.

My last short film "O" won at the 2023 "CinemaSuono Festival" in Cervia, Italy. Part of the main award is that the winning filmmaker gets the chance to create a new short film with the full support of the city of Cervia and its inhabitants!
While scouting locations in Cervia, I was desperately searching for inspiration when I noticed all these beautiful paintings and statues of women around town.

During the development process we as a team began asking ourselves: why is it that we mostly only know the men who created these pictures and sculptures, but not the women they are portraying? And what unspoken stories and misogyny might linger behind these faces and bodies, frozen for all eternity? And is these separation of art and artist even possible?

Our goal was to leave the audience somewhat unsatisfied alone with these very questions (as is the little boy in the film) and hopefully to encourage them to find their own personal answers.