ISLAMABAD: An Italian film, Padre, by writer and director Giada Colagrande was screened at The Women International Film Festival at the Pakistan National Council of Arts on Wednesday.

The film is about a woman, Giulia, who is mourning the death of her father when he contacts her from the other dimension.

The audience related personal life experiences, grief and loss to what they saw on screen and each person walked away with a different sense of what they saw. Giulia mourns the sudden loss of her father, Giulio Fontana. As she sees visions of him and traces his life through letters, she is supported by James, director and friend.

“The space behind you is as important as the one in front of you”, says James, guiding his female performers as they rehearse his new play.

The space you free up is as significant as the one you conquer, he says, something he compares to a visceral flight or fight instinct but that works as beautifully as an analogy for letting go of and wallowing in loss – both integral parts of the healing process.

Gabrielle Kelly, who has curated the first EU sidebar event, which will screen five European Union movies, directed by European women, introduced the film.

Italian Ambassador Stephano Pontecorvo said: “The movie is followed by a question and answer session. This film is from an upcoming Italian film director and actress, in line with the Italian tradition of having introspective movies based on dialogue, based on reasoning and trying to convey sentiment to the audience rather than any other film technique.”

The movie switches between old photographs, dreams and routine chores and activities, as Guilia receives visits from her father in the house they lived in together.

The audience sees how anticipated the visits are whether he comes as a fleeting shadow or as someone who seems like a solid presence. The house is haunted not only by him but by his memories.

Seemingly unconnected visuals serve as transitions between one stage of the film and the next. Some stunning paintings with gold leaves are part of the background as one scene segues into the next, while a disdainful cat is her companion at home. The film was simply made, clearly on a budget and in limited locations.

Ms Kelly said: “I had a lot of questions about the film and I did a lot of research. I found that she made this film in 2016, after losing her own father and having multiple dreams over a great period of time.

“This started the process of collaborating with another writer to write the script. Many of the scenes are drawn from those dreams that she had over a year or longer”.

Mr Pontecorvo said: “For myself, and for a number of Italians, who are here and can relate to this kind of movie, there is a symbolism that we understand. Most films made in Rome are films about Rome.

“We relate to inner beauty and outer beauty looking at our towns. Rome for us is the most beautiful place in the world. The city is a character in the film”.

He added: “The fact of being low-budget is a characteristic of our films. This has extreme symbolism and extreme inner research, but that is what Italian movies are about. It is not about action movies. I enjoy this kind of movie because it is deeply introspective.”

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2019