Experiencing Interruptions?

Buona Notte, Mio Amore

In 1945 Italy, Maria, a young local, and Rāwiri, a Māori Battalion solider, meet and quickly fall in love. Maria must wrestle with a life changing choice- should she leave everything she knows and start a new life in an unfamiliar land?

  • Eva Fulco
    Director
  • Eva Fulco
    Writer
  • Beth Wilson
    Producer
  • Eva Fulco
    Producer
  • Danyelle Mealings
    Key Cast
    "Maria"
  • Tawhiro Uangakore
    Key Cast
    "Rāwiri"
  • Zharn Pokoati
    Key Cast
    "Hira"
  • Kasina Campbell
    Key Cast
    "Rāwiri's mom"
    Whina
  • Eva Fulco
    Key Cast
    "Augustina"
  • Kasra Shirdel
    Editor
  • Ashley Temepara Powell
    Director of Photography
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Romance, Drama
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 18 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 20, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    5,500 NZD
  • Country of Origin:
    New Zealand
  • Country of Filming:
    New Zealand
  • Language:
    English, Italian, Maori
  • Shooting Format:
    1080p 25
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - South Seas Film School, Auckland, NZ
  • South Pacific Film Festival
    Nelson
    New Zealand
    Best Student Short Film 2023
  • South Italy International Film Festival
    Barletta
    Italy
    Official Selection 2023
Director Biography - Eva Fulco

Eva has been a registered nurse since 2015 and moved into the film world in 2022- enjoying directing, writing, acting, and general playing/creating. She has always been curious about people and the ways visual media can tell their stories, connect people, or make people laugh- and hopes to do that in her own work. She lives in NYC and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

My family's history is rooted in a WWII love story and I grew up listening to my grandma's stories about being a young Italian girl during the Nazi occupation and then moving to a foreign place, the United States. I've always wanted to write a story that relates back to my grandma's life. When I moved to Aotearoa New Zealand and learned about the 28th Māori Battalion, I quickly became interested in the forever link between these two groups of people. I think we keep people alive by telling stories/talking about these events and film is a great platform for this. When Ashley, the DOP, and I started crewing people for this project, multiple crew members told me that they had relatives who were in the 28th Māori Battalion and that's why they wanted to work on this project. This added another layer of connection to the project and was very special to us.