«I won at the European Oscars, but now let me go back to dance with Bjork»- Corriere.it

REYKJAVIK Laura Samani sends a voice message from the toilet where she has taken refuge, while from the Palazzo dell’Arpa (whose colors change according to the reflected light which here lasts four hours, then the sky turns pitch black), echoes of the music diffused by an exceptional dj, Björk, idol of the nation, all dressed up in silver, the enigmatic and intriguing fairy of the elves makes actors and directors who have won awards at the Efa, the European Oscars, dance.

A recognition dominated by Northern countries, but its president, the likeable Irish producer Mike Downey, says that the Germans never vote for German directors, and therefore over the years we Italians have brought home some recognition.

Laura Samani is the outsider who won as a “revelation” for having told a story of a forgotten rural Italy, filmed in a remote location. The film is called Small body, had already won the David di Donatello for first work. At the beginning of the 1900s, the young Agata lost her daughter when she was born. Catholic tradition has it that in the absence of breath the child cannot be baptized. «Her soul condemned to Limbo, without name and without peace». But in the mountains, there seems to be a place where children are brought back to life in the time it takes to breathe, the time needed to baptize them. Among the pitfalls, Agata sets off, clinging to that hope.

“I am very proud of this award, unexpected and incredible, it is the culmination of a year of collective efforts and happiness, and now I am back to hearing Bjork, because the most beautiful celebration is to be all together listening to wonderful music”, says the 33-year-old director from Trieste.

And now? «Each award carries a burden, this is heavy, I am happy and afraid, there are expectations about what I will do. My next film will be completely different: I’m not only interested in dramatic stories or folkloristic aspects against dark backdrops, I hope I won’t disappoint. I love pop, rythm’n’blues, punk: it will be a film set in my Trieste, there will be lots of music because I want to have fun now. It will be a story about coming of age. We are all crossovers, I don’t feel totally Italian, I like the connection of borders, I am above all a citizen of the world».

Curious that a certified country as old as ours, which does not know how to regenerate itself, whose young people go abroad to make dreams and ambitions come true, up here stands out in the awards for innovation (Bellocchio) and revelation (Samani).

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