A family tale unfolding in an idyllic countryside on the border between Tuscany and Umbria. Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
Gelsomina’s family functions according to very particular rules. First of all, Gelsomina, at twelve years of age, practically runs the family. Her three younger sisters work under her watchful eye. Gelsomina’s father, Wolfgang, wanted a male heir, of course, but Gelsomina is strong and determined and what’s more, she has a special talent for beekeeping. A TV show competition arrives from the city offering a cash prize for the Most Traditional Family. Gelsomina wants to participate in the contest, but Wolfgang is tormented by the new European laws regarding farm produce that might compel them to cease production. Nothing will be the same at the end of this exceptional summer for Gelsomina and her family.
»This was the first impulse that prompted me to work on The Wonders: the difficulties that one thinks when you think of the countryside, or of the small towns that make it up, as “pure” places, outside of time, and thus usable because they can never change. But seen from within (or maybe seen from the sidelines), these places are not like that and purity is only a prison to which they have confined themselves in order to have in exchange a warm meal per day.« (Alice Rohrwacher)
Alice Rohrwacher
Born in 1981 in Fiesole (Italy), Rohrwacher studied in Turin and Lisbon. She initially worked as performing musician for theatre and as editor and director in documentary filmmaking. Her first feature, Corpo Celeste, which premiered in Cannes within the scope of the Directors’ Fortnight, was among others selected for the Sundance, London, Rio and Tokyo film festivals.
filmography
2011 Corpo celeste
2014 La meraviglie (The Wonders)