Film-maker Jonas Carpignano continues his ’Ndrangheta mafia series with a drama where crime tests the bonds of a close-knit Calabrian family
The idea of a teenage girl discovering her father is in the mob gave us one of the great moments in television history, when Meadow in The Sopranos asked her dad Tony: “Are you in the mafia?” Now the Italian film-maker Jonas Carpignano has made this the central plank in this gripping and unnerving drama, effectively the third in his neo-neorealist “Calabrian” movies, after Mediterranea in 2015 and A Ciambra two years later. Both of these films used non-professionals from the region, and now Carpignano is audaciously bringing back minor personae from A Ciambra and putting them in the spotlight.
Swamy Rotolo, played Chiara Guerrasio in the earlier film and this new one, effectively gives us her terrifying and even tragic coming-of-age story, with her own family playing clan members.
The idea of a teenage girl discovering her father is in the mob gave us one of the great moments in television history, when Meadow in The Sopranos asked her dad Tony: “Are you in the mafia?” Now the Italian film-maker Jonas Carpignano has made this the central plank in this gripping and unnerving drama, effectively the third in his neo-neorealist “Calabrian” movies, after Mediterranea in 2015 and A Ciambra two years later. Both of these films used non-professionals from the region, and now Carpignano is audaciously bringing back minor personae from A Ciambra and putting them in the spotlight.
Swamy Rotolo, played Chiara Guerrasio in the earlier film and this new one, effectively gives us her terrifying and even tragic coming-of-age story, with her own family playing clan members.
- 7/11/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Jonas Carpignano’s third feature film, “A Chiara,” the third film in his loosely networked Calabrian trilogy, is an ambitious genre-melter rendered in his observational, lyrical style.
At once a coming-of-age story and a mafia thriller, “A Chiara” takes a look at organized crime in Southern Italy from the unique perspective of a teenage girl, Chiara (Swamy Rotolo). Her world is turned upside down after her father disappears and she tumbles down the rabbit hole after him, discovering he’s a member of the ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate.
Carpignano’s previous two films in the trilogy are 2015’s “Mediterranea,” which followed the experiences of African immigrants in Calabria, and 2017’s “A Ciambra,” executive produced by Martin Scorsese, about a Romani boy growing up too fast. All three films in the trilogy debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and have raked in a slew of awards and nominations for the filmmaker, including...
At once a coming-of-age story and a mafia thriller, “A Chiara” takes a look at organized crime in Southern Italy from the unique perspective of a teenage girl, Chiara (Swamy Rotolo). Her world is turned upside down after her father disappears and she tumbles down the rabbit hole after him, discovering he’s a member of the ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate.
Carpignano’s previous two films in the trilogy are 2015’s “Mediterranea,” which followed the experiences of African immigrants in Calabria, and 2017’s “A Ciambra,” executive produced by Martin Scorsese, about a Romani boy growing up too fast. All three films in the trilogy debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and have raked in a slew of awards and nominations for the filmmaker, including...
- 5/26/2022
- by Katie Walsh
- The Wrap
Writer, director, and producer Jonas Carpignano cast the lead actress for the conclusion of his Calabrian trilogy when she was just 10 years old. That’s how memorable Swamy Rotolo and her entire real-life family were to Carpignano, and key to rounding out his Calabrian trilogy.
“A Chiara” stars Rotolo as a teenager who soon discovers her father has organized crime ties in their small town of Gioia Tauro. As Chiara (Rotolo) pieces together the depths to which her family is intoxicated by the larger mafia familial ties, her father (Claudio Rotolo) goes missing, forcing her into foster care. Chiara eventually confronts her absent dad for his sins and is forced to reckon with her own. The film concludes Carpignano’s trilogy after 2015’s “Mediterranea” and 2017’s “A Ciambra.”
“A Chiara” premiered in the 2021 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and won the Europa Labels Prize for Best European Film. The film went on...
“A Chiara” stars Rotolo as a teenager who soon discovers her father has organized crime ties in their small town of Gioia Tauro. As Chiara (Rotolo) pieces together the depths to which her family is intoxicated by the larger mafia familial ties, her father (Claudio Rotolo) goes missing, forcing her into foster care. Chiara eventually confronts her absent dad for his sins and is forced to reckon with her own. The film concludes Carpignano’s trilogy after 2015’s “Mediterranea” and 2017’s “A Ciambra.”
“A Chiara” premiered in the 2021 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and won the Europa Labels Prize for Best European Film. The film went on...
- 5/9/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
"Are we in trouble?" Neon has revealed an official US trailer for an Italian drama titled A Chiara, the third feature from acclaimed filmmaker Jonas Carpignano, following his first two films: Mediterranea and A Ciambra. This one follows the story of 15-year-old Chiara whose close-knit family falls apart after her father abandons them in Calabria. As she gets closer to the difficult truth about her mysteriously missing father—and the crime syndicates that control her region— Chiara is forced to decide what kind of future she wants for herself. They add: "A coming-of-age chronicle like no other, A Chiara is both an intimate and universal family story." Featuring a local cast with Swamy Rotolo as Chiara, plus Claudio Rotolo, Grecia Rotolo, Antonina Fumo, Antonio Rotolo Uno, Carmela Fumo, Concetta Grillo, and Giorgia Rotolo. This won an award at last year's Directors' Fortnight sidebar during the Cannes Film Festival, and opens in the US this May.
- 5/3/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Southern Spain’s annual showcase of standout recent European auteur cinema, the Seville European Film Festival, wrapped its 18th edition Saturday, Nov. 13 with a slew of prizes scattered among its various contenders, with the top prize, the Giraldillo de Oro, going to Sebastian Meise’s “Great Freedom” and its lead, Franz Rogowski, nabbing the best actor award. The Andalusian screenwriters association, Asecan, also chose the drama as the best film in the festival’s official selection.
Set in post-war Germany, “Great Freedom” has been racking up rave reviews and prizes across the festival circuit, starting with its Cannes Un Certain Regard jury prize and most recently in Athens and Sarajevo where it topped their awards. In it, Hans, played by Rogowski, is imprisoned repeatedly for being gay. The only constant in his life is his cellmate, Viktor, a convicted murderer, with whom his initial repulsion turns to something akin to love.
Set in post-war Germany, “Great Freedom” has been racking up rave reviews and prizes across the festival circuit, starting with its Cannes Un Certain Regard jury prize and most recently in Athens and Sarajevo where it topped their awards. In it, Hans, played by Rogowski, is imprisoned repeatedly for being gay. The only constant in his life is his cellmate, Viktor, a convicted murderer, with whom his initial repulsion turns to something akin to love.
- 11/14/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Each of the bracingly intimate films that comprise Jonas Carpignano’s loose-knit Calabrian trilogy are self-contained to a certain degree; like “Mediterranea” and “A Ciambra” before it, “A Chiara” is meant to be understood on its own. But the small handful of overlapping characters between them link their respective stories together on a macroeconomic level in a way that deepens and belies the myopia of their neorealist construction.
The triptych begins with two refugees making the perilous trek from Africa to the Italian port city of Gioia Tauro, only to find themselves exploited by the people who got there first. The next chapter takes a half-step up the local hierarchy by focusing on a young Romani boy who idolizes his racist older brother, but struggles to reconcile the hostility of that us-vs-them mindset with the warmth he feels toward his foreign new friends, and his family’s own history of...
The triptych begins with two refugees making the perilous trek from Africa to the Italian port city of Gioia Tauro, only to find themselves exploited by the people who got there first. The next chapter takes a half-step up the local hierarchy by focusing on a young Romani boy who idolizes his racist older brother, but struggles to reconcile the hostility of that us-vs-them mindset with the warmth he feels toward his foreign new friends, and his family’s own history of...
- 9/30/2021
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Writer-director Jonas Carpignano completes his Calabrian trilogy with A Chiara, an enthralling drama about a teenage girl coming to terms with her family’s role in the mafia, which won the Europa Cinema Label at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. With a documentary-like authenticity, this is a touching, powerful film with a lyrical visual palette and a superb sense of time and place.
As in Mediterranea and A Ciambra, which told stories about immigration and the Roma community, respectively, Carpignano takes us to Gioia Tauro at the southern tip of the Italian mainland. For ten years the director has embedded himself here, a place infamous for the penetration in all walks of life of the ‘Ndrangheta, the secretive mafia clan that by some accounts controls three percent of Italy’s Gdp.
A Chiara begins, like another famous mafioso movie, with a party. To the tunes of Italian trap, Guilia (Grecia Rotolo) celebrates her 18th birthday,...
As in Mediterranea and A Ciambra, which told stories about immigration and the Roma community, respectively, Carpignano takes us to Gioia Tauro at the southern tip of the Italian mainland. For ten years the director has embedded himself here, a place infamous for the penetration in all walks of life of the ‘Ndrangheta, the secretive mafia clan that by some accounts controls three percent of Italy’s Gdp.
A Chiara begins, like another famous mafioso movie, with a party. To the tunes of Italian trap, Guilia (Grecia Rotolo) celebrates her 18th birthday,...
- 7/23/2021
- by Ed Frankl
- The Film Stage
Wrapping up a busy and fruitful Cannes film market, pioneering indie distributor Neon nabbed North American rights to Italian director Jonas Carpignano’s A Chiara, winner of the Directors’ Fortnight section’s Europa Cinemas Cannes Label prize for best European film.
A Chiara is the final film in Carpignano’s Calabrian trilogy, and the follow-up to his 2017 feature A Ciambra, which likewise won Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight section. The latest feature focuses on a young female protagonist, delivering what The Hollywood Reporter‘s critical called “arguably Carpignano’s most accomplished and affecting film to date.”
Written by Carpignano, A Chiara stars Carmela Fumo, Claudio Rotolo and Swamy Rotolo. The drama follows the ...
A Chiara is the final film in Carpignano’s Calabrian trilogy, and the follow-up to his 2017 feature A Ciambra, which likewise won Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight section. The latest feature focuses on a young female protagonist, delivering what The Hollywood Reporter‘s critical called “arguably Carpignano’s most accomplished and affecting film to date.”
Written by Carpignano, A Chiara stars Carmela Fumo, Claudio Rotolo and Swamy Rotolo. The drama follows the ...
- 7/18/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Wrapping up a busy and fruitful Cannes film market, pioneering indie distributor Neon nabbed North American rights to Italian director Jonas Carpignano’s A Chiara, winner of the Directors’ Fortnight section’s Europa Cinemas Cannes Label prize for best European film.
A Chiara is the final film in Carpignano’s Calabrian trilogy, and the follow-up to his 2017 feature A Ciambra, which likewise won Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight section. The latest feature focuses on a young female protagonist, delivering what The Hollywood Reporter‘s critical called “arguably Carpignano’s most accomplished and affecting film to date.”
Written by Carpignano, A Chiara stars Carmela Fumo, Claudio Rotolo and Swamy Rotolo. The drama follows the ...
A Chiara is the final film in Carpignano’s Calabrian trilogy, and the follow-up to his 2017 feature A Ciambra, which likewise won Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight section. The latest feature focuses on a young female protagonist, delivering what The Hollywood Reporter‘s critical called “arguably Carpignano’s most accomplished and affecting film to date.”
Written by Carpignano, A Chiara stars Carmela Fumo, Claudio Rotolo and Swamy Rotolo. The drama follows the ...
- 7/18/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Continuing its victory lap around the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, indie studio Neon has acquired the North American distribution rights to “A Chiara.”
The Jonas Carpignano film won the top prize in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight section. It is a companion film to his 2017 “A Ciambra,” for which he took the same award that year. Critics raved about the film’s exploration of young female identity and Carpignano’s ability to create enduring interest in one fictional family across multiple films.
“A Chiara” follows Claudio and Carmela Guerrasio, who gather with family and friends to celebrate their eldest daughter’s 18th birthday. There is a healthy rivalry between the birthday girl and her 15-year-old sister Chiara, as they compete on the dance floor. A happy occasion shifts suddenly when the patriarch disappears. As Chiara investigates, she discovers truths about her family and must face decisions about the kind of life she wants to build.
The Jonas Carpignano film won the top prize in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight section. It is a companion film to his 2017 “A Ciambra,” for which he took the same award that year. Critics raved about the film’s exploration of young female identity and Carpignano’s ability to create enduring interest in one fictional family across multiple films.
“A Chiara” follows Claudio and Carmela Guerrasio, who gather with family and friends to celebrate their eldest daughter’s 18th birthday. There is a healthy rivalry between the birthday girl and her 15-year-old sister Chiara, as they compete on the dance floor. A happy occasion shifts suddenly when the patriarch disappears. As Chiara investigates, she discovers truths about her family and must face decisions about the kind of life she wants to build.
- 7/18/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
A Chiara, directed by Italy’s Jonas Carpignano, has won the Europa Cinemas Cannes Label prize for best European film as part of the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight section.
The win marks the second time for Carpignano after winning the Europa Cinemas Label in Cannes in 2017 with A Ciambra, which also screened as part of the Director’s Fortnight sidebar. A Chiara, starring Carmela Fumo, Claudio Rotolo and Swamy Rotolo, portrays the Guerrasio family and their friends celebrating the oldest daughter’s 18th birthday, while her 16-year-old sister Chiara goes beyond a sibling rivalry to start investigating her families ties to the local mafia.
“...
The win marks the second time for Carpignano after winning the Europa Cinemas Label in Cannes in 2017 with A Ciambra, which also screened as part of the Director’s Fortnight sidebar. A Chiara, starring Carmela Fumo, Claudio Rotolo and Swamy Rotolo, portrays the Guerrasio family and their friends celebrating the oldest daughter’s 18th birthday, while her 16-year-old sister Chiara goes beyond a sibling rivalry to start investigating her families ties to the local mafia.
“...
- 7/15/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
A Chiara, directed by Italy’s Jonas Carpignano, has won the Europa Cinemas Cannes Label prize for best European film as part of the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight section.
The win marks the second time for Carpignano after winning the Europa Cinemas Label in Cannes in 2017 with A Ciambra, which also screened as part of the Director’s Fortnight sidebar. A Chiara, starring Carmela Fumo, Claudio Rotolo and Swamy Rotolo, portrays the Guerrasio family and their friends celebrating the oldest daughter’s 18th birthday, while her 16-year-old sister Chiara goes beyond a sibling rivalry to start investigating her families ties to the local mafia.
“...
The win marks the second time for Carpignano after winning the Europa Cinemas Label in Cannes in 2017 with A Ciambra, which also screened as part of the Director’s Fortnight sidebar. A Chiara, starring Carmela Fumo, Claudio Rotolo and Swamy Rotolo, portrays the Guerrasio family and their friends celebrating the oldest daughter’s 18th birthday, while her 16-year-old sister Chiara goes beyond a sibling rivalry to start investigating her families ties to the local mafia.
“...
- 7/15/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
World-Building at Cannes: Filmmakers Are Creating Low-Budget Franchises More Compelling Than the MCU
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a galvanizing cultural phenomenon for over a decade, but it doesn’t have a monopoly on world-building, or even offer the best example of its potential. Sure, there’s a giddy rush that comes from watching Spider-Man swing his way into the Avengers as the team assembles for one movie after another. The ultimate experience, however, boils down to a familiar one — a giant blockbuster spectacle is still just that, even in episodic form.
Other filmmakers working well beyond the constraints of Hollywood may not have the resources to develop sprawling multi-part epics, but they’re applying the concept in more personal and innovative ways. Several highlights from this year’s Cannes Film Festival build on previous work from their directors by either continuing stories started in earlier work, or adding new dimensions to environments they’ve explored before. As a whole, they offer...
Other filmmakers working well beyond the constraints of Hollywood may not have the resources to develop sprawling multi-part epics, but they’re applying the concept in more personal and innovative ways. Several highlights from this year’s Cannes Film Festival build on previous work from their directors by either continuing stories started in earlier work, or adding new dimensions to environments they’ve explored before. As a whole, they offer...
- 7/13/2021
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
It comes as something of a surprise to realize we still feel invested, four years on, in the characters Jonas Carpignano created in “A Ciambra” and, two years earlier, “Mediterranea.” Those two films, shot with a muscular contemporary neorealism, captured two sides of life in the hardscrabble underside of the Calabrian city Gioia Tauro, a place so associated with the province’s criminal organization the ‘Ndrangheta that most websites barely mention a more salutary history stretching back millennia. With “A Chiara,” the writer-director adds another facet to the earlier stories, one more intimately connected to the region’s mafia, but it’s perhaps too soon to call Carpignano’s three features a triptych since the panorama he’s built could easily keep extending further.
Although each film is a standalone, the recurrence of characters from the earlier stories offers a greater sense of how multiple strata of society interact, and...
Although each film is a standalone, the recurrence of characters from the earlier stories offers a greater sense of how multiple strata of society interact, and...
- 7/9/2021
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
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