Experiencing Interruptions?

Lentini

Mila, a German-Italian girl, travels to Sicily for the first time since childhood to attend her grandfather's funeral. In her attempts to reconnect with her grandmother, she is confronted with her vibrant Italian family and their traditions.

  • Alessia Mandanici
    Director
    Spieglein, Spieglein; Time to go (music video); Just Kids; Toy
  • Alessia Mandanici
    Writer
    Spieglein, Spieglein; Time to go (music video); Just Kids; Toy
  • Andrew Long
    Producer
  • Andrea Santoro
    Producer
  • Anne-Marie Lux
    Key Cast
    "Mila"
  • Antonietta "Picci" Ferrari
    Key Cast
    "Nonna (Grandmother)"
  • Claudio Caiolo
    Key Cast
    "Tommaso (Father)"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 20, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    31,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Italy
  • Language:
    German, Italian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - New York University
  • Stony Brook Film Festival
    Stony Brook
    United States
    July 21, 2022
    World Premiere
    Winner Opening Night Short
  • Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival

    United States
    Semi-Finalist
  • Austin Film Festival
    Austin, Texas
    United States
    October 29, 2022
    Texas Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Festival des Cinema di Salerno
    Salerno
    Italy
    December 19, 2022
    Italy Premiere
    Targa Short Film Prize
  • Dam Short Film Festival
    Boulder City, Nevada
    United States
    February 18, 2023
    Nevada Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Amarcort Il Giro del Mondo in 80 Corti
    Rimini
    Italy
    April 18, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Bahamas International Film Festival
    Nassau
    Bahamas
    May 7, 2023
    Caribbean Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Festival del Cinema di Cefalù
    Cefalù
    Italy
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Alessia Mandanici

Alessia Mandanici is a New York City-based filmmaker holding an MFA in writing & directing from NYU Tisch School’s Graduate Film program.

Born in Mainz, Germany, she discovered her passion for film during her BA in Communication Design. While deepening her visual skills as a cinematographer, editor, and designer in Berlin, she gained a broad spectrum of production experience for clients such as Google, ARD EinsPlus, and the Berlin State Ballet.

Alessia's award-winning narrative films were screened at Oscar-qualifying film festivals around the globe, including the Berlin International Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

As the daughter of a Sicilian father and a German mother, with their family-related and cultural identity, both beauty and struggle have fundamentally shaped how I see the world.

I was fourteen when tensions between the German and Italian side of my family came to a crisis, and I stopped communicating with my paternal grandparents, who moved back to Sicily where my grandfather died twelve years later.

It took me five years and moving to another continent to understand that my grandfather’s death and funeral had triggered an identity transformation, which would ultimately bring me back to my father’s hometown: Lentini.

Mila, the protagonist, goes through experiences similar to my own when she is reunited with her Sicilian family. Her internal struggles, feeling torn between alienation and inclusiveness, the wish to communicate, the language barrier, and her own insecurity, is what inspired me to tell this story.