Proudly presented by Music Box Films
100 minutes
Midwest Premiere
IFF is proud to offer you the chance to discover this “outsider” movie that looks and feels like nothing else in contemporary Italian cinema, that premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, continued on to the New York and the Toronto International Film Festival, became the most critically acclaimed Italian film of the year, was kept alive in theaters by word of mouth, and has possibly already reached cult status.
+ Q&A with IFF’s Artistic Director Tommaso Cammarano
ABOUT THE FILM
“Le città di pianura” follows Carlobianchi (Sergio Romano) and Doriano (Pierpaolo Capovilla), two aimless fifty-year-olds with a single obsession: chasing the last drink of the night. Their nocturnal wanderings across the endless Venetian plains take an unexpected turn when they encounter Giulio (Filippo Scotti), a shy architecture student. What begins as a chance meeting with these improbable mentors profoundly transforms Giulio’s view of the world, love, and the possibilities of the future.
Set against the vast, melancholic landscapes of the Veneto countryside, this road movie moves at the unpredictable pace of a hangover, blending humor, melancholy, and poetic reflection. Director Francesco Sossai’s vision captures a “lost generation”, exploring the tensions of men shaped by the economic boom of the 1970s yet disoriented by the crises of today. Carlobianchi and Doriano embody this generational drift, while Giulio represents a fading humanist ideal, navigating a world that offers few anchors. Together, their interactions explore friendship, longing, and the improbable ways life reshapes those willing to remain open to it. The original soundtrack by Krano, a Veneto singer-songwriter, enriches the film with fifteen tracks blending contemporary folk, post-rock, ambient textures, and lyrics in Veneto dialect, heightening its unique atmosphere.
We are delighted to invite our audience to experience this outstanding second feature, probably the most piercingly intelligent cinematic reflection Italy has offered on itself in years.
DIRECTOR’S BIO:
Francesco Sossai is an Italian director and screenwriter. After studying English and German literature at La Sapienza, he trained in directing at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin. His feature film debut, “Altri Cannibali” (2021) premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), winning Best First Feature. In 2023, his short film “Il compleanno di Enrico” premiered at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs section of the Cannes Film Festival. “Le città di pianura”, his second feature (2025) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and later screened at The New York Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival.
Relased 2025
Directed by Francesco Sossai