THE PUPILS (LE PUPILLE)
Oct 8, 9, 12, 15
Presented by Mill Valley Film Festival
With the support of the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco
Free in person screening | BUY TICKETS
From the very first frames of Alice Rohrwacher’s The Pupils, “a film clumsily and freely based on a letter the writer Elsa Morante sent to her friend Goffredo Fofi,” it’s clear we’re in for an original, whimsical, wonderful 37 minutes in the company of the rebellious little girls at a Catholic boarding school in Italy. It’s Christmas, it’s wartime, things are scarce. The Mother Superior, played by the marvelous Alba Rohrwacher, Alice’s sister and long-time collaborator (The Wonders, Happy as Lazzaro) rules over her charges with a strict and unyielding eye. Desires both pure and selfish are navigated. There’s the nativity play, requests for prayers from these innocent girls, and an irresistible red cake—temptation abounds! Gorgeously rendered in Super 16mm, filmmaker Rohrwacher’s sublime imagination and exquisite artistry once again prove her one of the most original cinema artists of her generation. We invite you to experience this gem of a film as our gift: Screenings are free, but you will need to get a ticket! —Zoë Elton
LE PUPILLE (THE PUPILS)
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Italy, 2022, 37 min
In Italian with English subtitles
ABOUT
Writer-director Alice Rohrwacher was born in 1982 in Tuscany, Italy. She studied literature and philosophy at the University of Turin, and her first fiction feature film, CORPO CELESTE (2011) screened at the Directors’ Fortnight, where it was awarded the Nastro d’argento. Also at Cannes, her second feature, THE WONDERS (2014), starring her sister Alba Rohrwacher, won the Grand Prix, and HAPPY AS LAZZARO (2018) won the Best Screenplay Award.