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Eight Birches

In “Otto Betulle”, inspired by the book of poems of the same name, the author takes the viewer on an emotional and spiritual journey through the borders of her soul.
The story takes place among the evocative birch trees, a memory of the author's childhood spent in Russia.
Three characters intertwine in an epic struggle to find the “Blessing”: an inner light that leads to spiritual liberation.

The Maiden - (Alla Chiara Luzzitelli): a figure eager to find peace and purification. She decides to embark on a spiritual journey through Baptism, but her path is darkened by the Damned Angel.

The Fallen Angel - (Lorenzo D’Amico): A dark presence that haunts the Maiden on her path of soul-searching. It represents the temptations and challenges that threaten to pull her away from her goal.

The Divine Blessing - (Vittoria D’Amico): The symbol of peace and liberation that the Maiden so fervently seeks: it represents the spiritual fulfillment and redemption that can be achieved through her determination.

The short film is a deep dive into the author's psyche; a journey that reflects the daily struggle to overcome darkness and seek one's her light through overcoming innermost fears.

Through evocative cinematography, the author captures the tension between the desire for purification and the Evil’s temptation.

“Otto Betulle” invites the viewer to explore the recesses of one's soul, confront one's weaknesses and seek peace and redemption. A visual and emotional experience that challenges to fight your own battles and emerge into the light.

  • Alla Chiara Luzzitelli
    Director
  • Alla Chiara Luzzitelli
    Writer
  • Luzzitelli Danieli Productions
    Producer
  • Mattia Cavaliere
    Director of Photography
  • Lorenzo D'amico
    Key Cast
    "The Fallen Angel"
  • Vittoria D'amico
    Key Cast
    "The Divine Blessing"
  • Alla Chiara Luzzitelli
    Key Cast
    "The Maiden"
  • Ruben Tonet
    Floor sound engineer
  • Gaia Divario
    Production manager
  • Federica Comoretto
    Production manager
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Otto Betulle
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 53 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 12, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Country of Filming:
    Italy
  • Language:
    Italian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16;9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Florence Biennale
    Florence
    Italy
    October 14, 2023
    Florence Biennale
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Alla Chiara Luzzitelli

Alla Chiara Luzzitelli, aka Alicka, was born on 16 May 1998 in Litpetzk, Russia. She lived for eight years in the orphanage before being adopted by the Italian family Luzzitelli, with whom she moved to Turin, Italy. She began her artistic career in her adolescence when, on the occasion of Paratissima 2014, the annual art event in Turin, she presented her first photographic project, entitled "How people would never want to show themselves". Thanks to this experience, the artist has the opportunity to meet different personalities, including the art critic Giorgio Bonomi, with whom she realizes a project on self-portrait, permanently exhibited in the Musinf Gallery in Senigallia. In the following years she participated in several exhibitions including those at the galleries Satura, Genoa 2014, and Crivelli, Bergamo 2015; then at the Biennale di Genova 2015 Expo Intl contemporary art, winner of the Emerging Artist Award, Paratissima Torino 2015, Genova ART Expo 2016. In the same years she studied photography and graphics at the "Albe Steiner" institute in Turin and worked as a photographer in Milan for several agencies; she graduated from high school in 2019. In her teenage years she continued to develop her writing through poems that would not be released until 2022, the year in which she decided to write a collection of new poems joining them to those written previously. After high school, she began her studies in cinematography in Turin, taking a specialization in direction with Gianni Amelio. In 2019, in collaboration with the composer Mattia Vlad Morleo, she made an album of poems entitled Procedura di Liberazione, from which she made a short film that earned her the Lorenzo il magnifico award, the second place at the biennial in Florence and participation in five film festivals around the world.
In 2022 she felt the need to finally give space to her writings, and thus began the writing of the poetic collection Otto Betulle, a title that derives from her childhood and the number of years lived in the country of origin.
Last but not least she won "Lorenzo Il Magnifico" award for her short movie "Otto Betulle" at the Florence Biennale 2023.

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