01/08/2022 - The director’s first fiction feature film is a road movie hovering between drama and irony, starring Giacomo Ferrara, Andrea Lattanzi, Ivan Franek and Agnese Claisse

Shooting is underway on Unità mobile di soccorso, the debut fiction feature by 34-year-old Maria Tilli, a screenwriter and director of documentaries (including La gente resta, which won the Special Jury Prize at the 33rd Torino Film Festival, and Sembravano applausi, focusing on Marcello Fonte and nominated for a Silver Ribbon award), shorts films and backstage footage (for Matteo Garrone’s Dogman [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile], among others).

Giacomo Ferrara (Suburra [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefano Sollima
film profile] and Suburra: Blood on Rome, Non mi uccidere [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Ghiaccio [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Andrea Lattanzi (Manuel [+see also:
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trailer
film profile], On My Skin [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and TV series Summertime [+see also:
series review
series profile]), Ivan Franek (recently seen in the series Christian [+see also:
series review
series profile]) and Agnese Claisse (Blue Kids [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) lead the cast of the film and will be on set in Friuli Venezia Giulia and Abruzzo for a total of six weeks.

Unità mobile di soccorso is an occasionally grotesque road movie hovering between drama and irony which paints a harsh yet true-to-life portrait of four people, who are sometimes unaware of having embarked upon a journey towards the outer reaches of life. Toni (Ferrara) and Champagnino (Lattanzi) live in a small town in Abruzzo where nothing ever happens. Champagnino drives an ambulance while Toni is a medic. One day, they’re asked to drive Emir (Franek) - a patient in need of special treatment - to Serbia. They’re accompanied by Emir’s daughter Maria (Claisse). During the journey, Toni, Champagnino and Maria realise they don’t know the whole truth and that Emir’s decision over his own life will no doubt change their own.

The story of Unità mobile di soccorso was devised by Maria Tilli and Chiara Leonardi. The director also signs her name to the screenplay, in league with Matteo Corradini and Fabrizio Franzini. The movie is produced by 302 Original Content alongside RAI Cinema.

(Translated from Italian)