La Nostra Vita

Daniele Luchetti's acute snapshot of contemporary Italy, LA NOSTRA VITA screened in competition at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival where Elio Germano collected the coveted Best Actor award for his unvarnished portrayal of an ambitious working-class man who is full of life and not entirely honest. This is a must-see Festival highlight.

Elio Germano (As God Commands, IFF09), one of Italy's top young actors, plays Claudio, a construction worker living on the outskirts of Rome with a wife (Isabella Ragonese, Her Whole Life Ahead, IFF08) he adores, two small kids and a third on the way. When a tragedy befalls the family, Claudio leans on his boss, Porcari (Giorgio Colangeli), to give him his own construction site to supervise. In exchange, Claudio will keep a secret Porcari is covering up.

The star-studded cast also includes Luca Zingaretti (from the popular Inspector Montalbano series) as a drug-dealing neighbour and Raoul Bova, one of Italy's most exportable heart-throbs who is perfectly cast as Claudio's brother, and is unexpectedly moving as a handsome but introverted bachelor. Luchetti's wisely made human drama explores some of Italy's most topical issues, punctuated by songs from Italian rock great and working-class hero Vasco Rossi.