A punk-agropastoral drama, that tells about the military contamination of Sardinia Island, through Mario Piredda’s special glance.
Anita is seventeen years old and lives in Sardinia, along with her father Jacopo, who is sick with leukemia and would urgently need a transplant. The waiting time to find a donor is too long compared to the progression of the disease, and although relatives are more likely to be a match, neither Anita nor her grandfather Tonino-an old shepherd who lives on the plateau next to a military compound-are. Jacopo has only one brother, Gaetano, who lives on the other side of the island; the two have not spoken to each other in years because of a fierce quarrel that they do not seem intent on forgetting. With her grandfather’s help, Anita has no choice but to show up at her uncle’s house, determined to mend the rifts of the past to convince him to do the tests that could save her father’s life.
After A casa mia, the short film we produced in 2016 that won the David di Donatello for Best Short Film 2017, we jumped headlong into Mario Piredda’s debut feature. L’Agnello, already in the writing stage, won the Suso Cecchi D’Amico prize, awarded annually to the Best Italian Screenplay with a female protagonist.
The production was full of discoveries, including the genuine talent of Nora Stassi. The film premiered at Alice nella città – official selection 2019 (Honorable Mention to Nora Stassi as Best Emerging Talent) and was selected, among others, at the Moscow IFF, Istambul IFF, and Annecy festivals, where it won the Audience Award, Young Jury Award and as Best Film.
In Italy the film was released in the hardest days of the pandemic, the first weekend of lockdown. We distributed it, in collaboration with Moderna Distribuzioni, on the lock-down weekend: those were difficult days and decisions to make. But then it ran its course, getting a great response from critics and audiences, so much so that it was scheduled in theaters for the next two years, and there is not a small town in Sardinia that did not screen it in the squares.
In the meantime it continued to tour festivals, winning the Annecy festival (Best Film, Youth Jury Award, and Audience Award), and was also selected at Cinemed Montpellier, CPH Buster, Cinemagic UK, Denver IFF, Lucas International Children’s Film Festival… And thanks to our agent TVCO it also collected several sales, so it is now available on Netflix Europe and Rai Play, among other platforms.
YEAR
2019
AWARDS
Italian Golden Globe as Best Emerging Talent
Honorable Mention as Best Leading Actress – Alice nella Città
Best Film, Audience Award, Jury Award – Annecy Festival
GENRE
Debut film, drama
STATUS
In distribution
“Anita is one of the most beautiful female characters seen in Italian cinema in a long time.”
L'Espresso
The Lamb is a film by MARIO PIREDDA,
an ARTICOLTURE production with MAT PRODUCTION (FRA), and RAI CINEMA.
With the support of the AUTONOMOUS REGION of SARDINIA, FONDAZIONE SARDEGNA FILM COMMISSION, and CINETECA SARDA
a film by MARIO PIREDDA
starring NORA STASSI, LUCIANO CURRELI, PIERO MARCIALIS, MICHELE DR. DRER ATZORI
written by MARIO PIREDDA and GIOVANNI GALAVOTTI
cinemagraphy FABRIZIO LA PALOMBARA
editing CORRADO IUVARA
original sound track MARCO BISCARINI – ALA BIANCA PUBLISHING
set design PIETRO RAIS
costume design STEFANIA GRILLI
sound PIERO FANCELLU
sound design LUCA LEPROTTI
produced by IVAN OLGIATI and CHIARA GALLONI, together with RICHARD MAGNIEN and MARIE MOUCHEL-BLAISOT
Assistant director ROBERTA ALOISIO
Line producer GREGORIO MARASCHINI MONTANARI
Delegate Producer FABRIZIO CABITZA
Casting STELLA LA BOCCETTA
Location manager RICCARDO DE LUCA
Backstage FRANCESCA ARDAU
Graphic design EMMABOSHI STUDIO
Press office GABRIELE BARCARO
Italian distributor ARTICOLTURE with MODERNA DISTRIBUZIONI
International Sales Agent TVCO