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LA SCELTA DEL NOME

By Caterina BIASIUCCI

First film - Development 2025

Long-haired, 16 year-old Rosaria is five months pregnant. She arrives early one morning at the little cemetery of a country village. The Imparato family live in a house here. The father is the cemetery caretaker. Rosaria is welcomed by her best friend and classmate, Rita. Rosaria enters the house, bearing a small suitcase and a secret: she is adamant, no matter what, that she will never name the man whose child she is carrying. And for this, her parents have thrown her out of the house.

- Year of production
- 2025
- Genres
- First film, Book adaptation, Drama
- Countries
- ITALY, ROMANIA
- Languages
- ITALIAN
- Duration
- 90 mn
- Director(s)
- Caterina BIASIUCCI
- Writer(s)
- Caterina BIASIUCCI, Bruno OLIVIERO
- Producer(s)
- Antonella DI NOCERA (Parallelo 41 Produzioni)
- Synopsis
- The Imparato family, Luisa (48), Cristoforo (50), Rita (16), Nicola (8), await the arrival of Rosaria (16). Rita has convinced her parents to allow her five months-pregnant classmate to live with them. The girl has been kicked out of the house by her parents over the shame of a teenage pregnancy and because she has refused to reveal the father's name.
  We are in a small cemetery in the provinces, seemingly far from our modern times. The Imparato family are the cemetery caretakers. Though they live here among the dead, they have a vitality that warms Rosaria's heart.
  Rosaria's family knows that their daughter has been taken in by the Imparatos, and although the father no longer speaks to her, the mother keeps in touch with her and Luisa. Rita and Rosaria spend all their time together: they do the typical girlie things: putting on make-up, chatting, having a laugh. They are two teenagers discovering and identifying the world around them. And Nicola gets left out. Always. Even when they take him to the river with them, or when they’re talking late at night.
  The two girls’ impenetrable friendship freezes him out, and all he can do is only look through his telescope. He observes everything through it: his family, Rosaria, the cemetery... Every now and then, he seems to see something among the dead: something living. In the last days of school before the summer holidays, Rosaria stays at home with Cristoforo and Luisa. From him she learns about how the dead are tended, and from her she learns about femininity and the looming reality of motherhood. It's as if Rosaria had never had a family to look after her and show her the workings of life. But maybe it's easier with other people's children.
  But Rosaria's insistence on protecting her secret and her extended stay in their house causes increasing tension between Rita and her parents. Rita wants to respect Rosaria's secret, and she wants her parents to understand this, too. Rita is stubborn; she’s something of a feminist without knowing that she is.
  But when she finds out that the father of Rosaria's child is none other than the teacher that she herself is in love with, their friendship and solidarity break down. She almost wishes Rosaria would go away now, but she can’t betray herself; she can’t afford show her parents any weakening of her resolve. And, despite her anger, she continues to feel the strongest love of all: her bond of friendship with Rosaria. But things are going ahead regardless, in spite of the raw feelings and simmering conflicts. Luisa and Cristoforo, who have by now become rather attached to the headstrong and courageous Rosaria, take her for a gynaecological examination. The ultrasound scan shows the reality of the baby growing in her belly.
  The waning friendship with Rita and the starkly real image of the scan make Rosaria even more doubtful about the prospect of being a mother. Feeling alone and isolated, she tears up the ultrasound printout and throws it away. In her desperation, she has a mad idea of ending it all with the help of little Nicola: she contrives a way to make him head butt her in the belly. Rita is able to intervene in time to stop the perverse game. For a moment, her dark mood seems to lighten as she attends to her friend to make sure she is okay. After those days of upheaval and alienation, Rita and Rosaria find some space for themselves in an old chapel. There, their feelings metamorphose into an alliance. Rita now understands that there are stronger reasons for Rosaria's silence, and that she and her secret must be protected. She believes now that Rosaria must stay in their home, give birth as a free person and raise her son in this cemetery house.
  In the meantime, Luisa has secretly reassembled the ultrasound picture that Rosaria tore up. She slips it into her handbag and goes out, intent on taking the ultrasound to the girl's family.
  And in fact, the phone at the Imparato house rings the next day. It's Rosaria's father. He says they'll come and pick her up the next morning. But Rosaria is not prepared for this. No one is, not even Luisa who orchestrated the whole thing. However, everything changes when Rosaria feels a kick from the baby growing inside her. Everyone rushes to feel her belly. It's clear to them: she is now part of the family, the cemetery and their little world.
  The next morning, Rita, Rosaria and Nicola hear Rosaria's parents' car pulling up, the sound of the handbrake and a door slamming. Then they hear the horn of the bus also arriving at the cemetery. The three of them are suddenly taken by a strange urge. Nicola is the first to run, with the two girls following after. They run to the gate, without a word and without saying goodbye. The bus stops outside and the doors open. Rosaria, Rita and Nicola get on and leave together. Is this a game?