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PAÉS DI MATT

By Giovanna BO

Drama - Development 2026

Paés di Matt tells the tale of Gianna, a child who fled with her family after the bombing, and her brief friendship with Mario, a traumatised soldier shut away into a mental asylum. Over the course of few weeks, this this friendship will change the perception of war and the understanding of madness.

- Year of production
- 2026
- Genres
- Drama, Historical, Animation
- Countries
- ITALY
- Budget
- 3 - 5 M$
- Duration
- 80 mn
- Director(s)
- Giovanna BO
- Writer(s)
- Federica IACOBELLI
- Synopsis
- In Parma, like so many other places and times - past present and future - war suddenly struck the civilians. It rained down from the skies along with the bombs.
  
  On the morning of May 2, 1944, shortly after what became known as the terrible massacre of Cornocchio, in the heat of the Second World War, the family is forced to flee. The little girl, her older sister and brother and her parents escape on three bikes and a truck to nearby Colorno, the village of her maternal grandparents. This place is also known as the ‘loony-bin village’, because of the large asylum housed in its eighteenth-century palace.
  
  But who are these madmen, the little girl wonders. She thinks they must be royalty if they live in such an enormous and princely place. And if they are locked up there, they can't have anything to do with this war that is causing so much pain. This war that took her beloved uncle Giulio away from her and her family, a handsome young fighter pilot. Giulio has not returned for three years, but no one knows what happened to him. His body has not been found, some say that he may have survived, and his family is still waiting for him, each in their own way.
  
  Gianna is not an ordinary child: precocious, mature, yet curious and sensitive, she has a mind of her own and wants to understand and explore things in her own way. The spring air is very sweet, and people here talk more about the lunatic asylum than bombs. However, Gianna never stops asking questions. And this is how she finds herself in front of the cathedral on a sunny and deserted morning, following the funeral procession of one of the lunatics from the asylum. She is deeply moved by the loneliness of the solitary coffin, abandoned by everyone. Why are people so frightening by the patients in the lunatic asylum? Who are they really? Is it them who wage war?
- Beginning of shooting
- Jan 13, 2025
- End of shooting
- Nov 27, 2026