Naples, but it might be somewhere else. Yesterday, but it could be tomorrow. Annarella, a wretchedly poor little 10 year old girl, isn't able to sleep and gets up in the middle of the night to scrutinize by the dim light of an old lamp the faces, worn out by hardship, of her father, mother, little brother and aunt. Next morning, the departure of her mother for a wearying task under a cloudy sky, announce a great event. In the courtyard meanwhile the neighbours' chatter turns to the question of the real need for such a purchase, you could eat for two weeks with that amount of money. What need can she have of those spectacles? The world is so awful it's not worth looking at, and as for reading, she doesn't know how to read! All in all she's lucky to be "almost blind"! But nothing can diminish Annarella's desire to see the world around her again; she remembers seeing it seven days earlier when the optician measured her eyesight and tried her for glasses...
AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS
Visioni Italiane 2001 (Bologna, Italy) Special Mention
David di Donatello 2002 (Italy) Nomination
Spoleto Festival 2001 (Italy) Audience Award
Salerno IF (Italy) 2002 Best Short Film and Best New Actress
Cinecorto 2002 (Italy) A.DI.S.U. Award
Giffoni Film Festival 2002 (Italy) Lion Club Award
New York Short Film Festival 2003 (USA) Best Short Film
Isfahan Festival 2004 (Iran) Best Short Film
FESTIVALS
58.Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica
di Venezia. 2001
Annecy Cinema Italien 2001 (France)
Siena Short International Film Festival 2001 (Italy)
Brest Short International Film Festival 2001 (France)
Visioni Italiane 2001 (Italy)
Giffoni Film Festival 2002 (Italy)
Cinecorto 2002 (Italy)
GustoCorto 2001/2002 (Italy)
Corto in Bra 2002 (Italy)
Festival Internazionale del Cinema di Salerno 2002 (Italy)
Edinburg International Film Festival 2002 (UK)
Melbourne International Film Festival 2002 (Australia)
Selected by FICE 2002 (Italy)
Bratislava International Film Festival 2002 (Slovakia)
Olympia IFF for Children and Young People 2002 (Greece)
New York Short Film Festival 2003 (USA)
The Best East Picture Show 2003 (NJ USA)
From the short novel by Maria Ortese” (Adelphi)
Writer/director CARLO DAMASCO
A THULE production | Year 2001 | Language NEAPOLITAN | Location NAPLES | 16mins | 35mm B/W COLOR 1.85 | Stereo | Theatrical Release May 2001
