Fandango Sales has taken global distribution rights outside Italy to “Feeling Better” (“Nonostante”), the hospital-set drama by Italian actor-director Valerio Mastandrea which will open the Venice Film Festival‘s Horizons section focusing on new trends in world cinema.
“Feeling Better” – in which the Roman actor also stars – marks Mastandrea’s sophomore directorial effort following his 2018 feature debut “Laughing” (“Ride”) that launched from the Torino Film Festival and traveled on the festival circuit.
In “Feeling Better,” Mastandrea plays a man who “passes his days peacefully in a hospital with nothing much to worry about,” according to the provided synopsis. He’s been there a while, sheltered from everything and everyone, with no responsibilities or problems, until a new patient – played by Argentina’s Dolores Fonzi (“Paulina”) – arrives in the ward.
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The woman, whom he intersects with, is troubled and angry and accepts nothing about her medical condition.
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“She is not willing to wait and wants out of there, whether she has recovered or not,” the description says.
This encounter helps the passive patient come to terms with the fact that “if you really decide to face up to your heart and your feelings, then you will not be able to find shelter anywhere,” as the synopsis puts it.
Besides Mastandrea and Fonzi, the rest of the “Feeling Better” cast includes Lino Musella, Giorgio Montanini, Justin Alexander Korovkin, Barbara Ronchi, Luca Lionello and a special cameo by Laura Morante.
The film’s moody score is by Icelandic composer Tóti Guðnason, whose credits include Valdimar Jóhannsson’s “Lamb” and Valeria Golino’s Sky series “The Art of Joy.”
“Feeling Better” is produced by Viola Prestieri and Valeria Golino for HT Film; Francesco Tatò and Oscar Glioti for Damocle; and Moreno Zani and Malcom Pagani for Tenderstories with support from RAI Cinema.
BiM Distribuzione will release the film in Italy.
Watch an exclusive clip from “Feeling Better” below.
