original title:
Il padre e lo straniero
directed by:
cast:
screenplay:
cinematography:
editing:
set design:
costume design:
music:
producer:
production:
Ager 3, Rai Cinema, Luce Cinecittà, supported by Ministero della Cultura
distribution:
world sales:
country:
Italy
year:
2010
film run:
110'
format:
35mm - colour
release date:
18/02/2011
festivals & awards:
In a Rome with echoes of the Middle East, a friendship develops between two very different men, the Italian Diego and the Arab Walid. The two men bond through the shared love for their disabled sons, who both attend the same rehabilitation centre. Through his relationship with Walid, Diego will question the meaning of 'different' and 'normal' and how he has lived his life until that point. The friendship will deeply change both, but Walid also has many secrets, in which Diego becomes unwittingly involved, testing his trust for the new friend. Are Walid’s intentions sincere, or part of an international web of intrigue that sees Diego as a mere pawn, manoeuvred by forces bigger than him? When Walid suddenly disappears, Diego is investigated by the Secret Services, followed by persons unknown. And so to solve the mysteries that risk ruining his life, he begins his own inquiry, which leads him to the faraway country where Walid had once brought him. Here, finally, he will discover the unexpected truth and learn that anyone, through a long and tortuous journey, can achieve the happiness that, unknowingly, they always had within.