ZEN SUL GHIACCIO SOTTILE / ZEN IN THE ICE RIFT (2018 – ITA, 94’, feature)
by Margherita Ferri.
Produced by Articolture, with the support fo Biennale College Cinema 17/18; with Eleonora Conti, Susanna Acchiardi and Fabrizia Sacchi.
Distribution: Istituto Luce Cinecittà. Sales Agent: Media Luna New Films.
Premiered at 75° Mostra del Cinema di Venezia and Alice nella città – Festa del Cinema di Roma 2018; Final five Nastri d’Argento as best emerging director, Honorable mention at FRAMELINE- San Francisco 2019, Eleonora Conti Best emerging italian talent for NuovoIMAIE.
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Maia, called ZEN, a rowdy yet solitary 16-year-old tomboy, lives in a small village on top of the rough and beautiful Italian Apennines. She’s the only girl of the local ice hockey-team and she is constantly bullied by her teammates for her masculine attitude. When Vanessa – the beautiful and bewildered girlfriend of the team captain – runs away from home and hides in Maia’s family lodge, Maia feels free to trust someone for the first time. Led by the need to break away from the roles that the small community has forced them to play, Maia and Vanessa embark on a journey of self-discovery: an exploration of their gender identity and sexuality, liquid and restless like the troubled time of youth.
This is the first feature film by Margherita Ferri: “A film rooted in the LGBT + community and in the Emilian Apennines area, a coming of age film, about self-discovery during in the troubled years of adolescence”.
The project won the 6th edition of Biennale College Cinema production grant: Articolture and the Biennale di Venezia produced the film, that premiered on September 1st, 2018 at 75th Venice International Film Festival. With this film Margherita was nominated in the final five for Nastri d’Argento 2019 award as best new director.
The film was made with the support of Prodigio Divino, Unione Appennino Bolognese and Ente di Gestione per i Parchi e la Biodiversità Emilia Centrale; in collaboration with Cassero LGBT Centre Bologna, Centro Risorse LGBT Bologna, Combo.
Special thanks to Emilia-Romagna Film Commission and to CNA Cinema e Audiovisivo.