Long Live the Bride

Nicola is a man who has spent much of his life in a mental institution, though not always as a patient. Nicola's mother suffered from mental illness, and when young Nicola grew old enough to understand some of her stranger behavior as well as the family's other dark secrets, a few of the adults around him preferred to suggest he was disturbed like his mother, and he was encouraged to visit an asylum not far from his home. As an adult, Nicola has spent enough time around people who have a tenuous connection with reality that he has a superficial resemblance to them, and has developed a strange set of imaginary friends to go along with his eccentric real-life companions and the woman he loves from afar, Marinella.

Three different epochs through the gaze of three children: Zelinda, who loses her mother to the Spanish Flu during World War I and sees the specter of Nazism loom; Assunta, who lives during the Nazi occupation between bombings, raids, and executions; Icaro, who abandons the countryside during the Years of Lead (“Anni di Piombo”) and accepts a new life. A story across the difficulties and the troubles of the 20th century between memories, affection, nostalgia, and gratitude.

Accio and Manrico are siblings from a working-class family in 1960s Italy: older Manrico is handsome, charismatic, and loved by all, while younger Accio is sulky, hot-headed, and treats life as a battleground — much to his parents' chagrin. After the former is drawn into left-wing politics, Accio joins the fascists out of spite, but his flimsy beliefs are put to test when he falls for Manrico's like-minded girlfriend.

Garage owner Angelo and big-time film producer Alberto find themselves occupying neighbouring beds in a Rome hospital after suffering heart attacks. Alberto is a gregarious joker - and chain smoker - who has a strong effect on the impressionable Angelo. However, as one of the men's condition deteriorates, the other becomes more deeply involved in his personal life.

Achille Tarallo is an absent father and an unhappy husband. He drives buses in Naples for a living but his dream is to be a great crooner. In the meantime he sings at wedding parties with his best friend Café, waiting for their band manager Pennabic to make them famous. One day, Achille falls in love with the new caregiver of his mother, a kind woman from Eastern Europe very different from his nagging wife Elide.

The Hidden Sea combines cinema, theater and documentary. Freely inspired by Saint-Exupéry’s fable, The Little Prince, this film tells the story of a young immigrant’s journey through the faces and wounds of Southern Italy. An attempt to reclaim his own history and perhaps his own future. But he is not alone on this journey. The narrator’s words are in fact confused with those of the many characters encountered and above all with the voice of the places crossed. The Hidden Sea is a reflection on the saving power of art.

A French staging of Ascanio Celestini's play "Laïka" by himself.