The House That Stood

San Pietro Avellana, southern Italy, 1943. Camillo, a teenager, sees his life being turned upside down when, one day, some retreating German soldiers begin using his family's inn as a base of operation. Amid a war that seems never-ending, Camillo has much more in mind; and first things first, to ask Bianca, his longtime crush, on a first date. The world seems a little less ugly, even for a moment, until something changes their lives forever.

  • Antonella Spirito
    Director
  • Antonella Spirito
    Writer
  • Barnaby Spikings
    Producer
  • Nathan Matthew Legger
    Producer
    Un Dia
  • Bo W. Giesen
    Director Of Photography
  • Matteo Accardi
    Key Cast
    "Camillo"
  • Simona Lamorgese
    Key Cast
    "Bianca"
  • Claudia Cara
    Key Cast
    "Giovanna"
  • David Paryla
    Key Cast
    "Otto"
  • Annalisa Lori
    Key Cast
    "Anna"
  • Giovanni Garone
    Key Cast
    "Mario"
  • Beatrice Buticchi
    Key Cast
    "Bianca (15 years later)"
  • Giuseppe Perretta
    Key Cast
    "Camillo (15 years later)"
  • Renato Paioli
    Key Cast
    "Rocco"
  • Claudio Pellerito
    Key Cast
    "Mario (15 years later)"
  • Brian Bususu
    Key Cast
    "Marcus"
  • Luca Pesapane
    Production Design
  • Valeria Villa
    Production Design
  • Barnaby Spikings
    Editor
  • Lorenzo Ceci
    Original Score
  • J. P. Watts
    Visual Effects
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Ciò che resta
  • Project Type:
    Feature, Student
  • Genres:
    Drama, Historical
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 19, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    30,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Country of Filming:
    Italy
  • Language:
    Italian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - The London Film School
  • Soho International Film Festival
    New York City
    United States
    September 18, 2023
    World Premiere
    Official Selection / Nominee for Best World Showcase Feature
Director Biography - Antonella Spirito

Antonella Spirito is a writer and director from Rome, Italy, living in the UK and a graduate with a MA Filmmaking from The London Film School. She also has an undergraduate degree in Film and Photography from Roehampton University. Her biggest passion has always been writing and working with actors to bring stories to life. Her favourite film genre to write and direct is drama, usually based on real events and real people that inspire her every day.

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Director Statement

Even though I was born and raised in Rome, I spent every single summer of my childhood in San Pietro Avellana, a tiny Italian village at the border of the two regions of Molise and Abruzzo. I spent hours, days, weeks in San Pietro listening to my grandparents, who would tell me stories about their time in the war as kids, anecdotes about people they knew, and I learned everything about these people without even having ever met them. Stories about how, although the town wasn’t on the frontline of the war, the poverty was eating it alive. People, however, and especially the kids, found a way to smile through it all. I chose, out of the multitude of stories and anecdotes that were passed on to me, to focus on a revisited version of how my grandparents fell in love during that time, and from that, The House That Stood was born. The goal of the film is not only to honor my family’s story, but to also bring awareness to a little piece of history not known by many people, even in Italy, and to show that every single person's story is worth telling, no matter how small.