‘La Pivellina - Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel’

La Pivellina (or "the little one") is set in the bleak outskirts of Rome, where a family of circus artists takes care of a child who is found on the street one day by Patti. No one knows where the little one came from or what her history is, and although the father of the circus family keeps a close eye on the television news in the hope of getting clues about the little one, the child is soon accepted into the family and showered with love and affection. Until one day word comes that the child's biological mother has come to pick up "the little one" again.

This touching tale, which won the Europa Cinemas Label in 2009 and was showcased at the Cannes Film Festival, is featured in the Close-up dedicated to its directors, Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel. They will introduce their film and engage with the audience. They will introduce their film and engage with the audience. Following this, there will be a screening of a film of their choice as part of a carte blanche, namely Jacques Becker's "Le Trou."

Born in Bolzano in 1971, Tizza Covi lived in Paris and Berlin before studying photography in Vienna. She then moved to Rome, where she thrives as a photographer. Rainer Frimmel was born in Vienna the same year, where he also studied photography. Sharing his passion with Tizza, they combined their talents in 2002 to found Vento Films, an independent production company. Since then, their collaboration has been crowned with success, with their films winning numerous awards at prestigious festivals such as the Berlinale, Locarno, Cannes (Directors' Fortnight) and Cinéma du Réel Paris. In their work, which ranges from documentary to fiction, photography has a special place. Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel also regularly work with non-professional actors, who are invited to take part in a fictional story while playing themselves.