Outside Lives

Anthology of urban stories form seven Italian directors.

1976, Aldo, an explosives expert, is exiled to Italy after mining protests. There he meets Luciana, an anarchist doctor who offers to reunite him with his family, but only if he takes up his old trade: making bombs for revolutionaries.

A journey through three distant cultures, retracing the steps that give rise to the breath of life: its primeval discovery, the circularity of breathing, the harmony of song, the colour of each single voice and the connection with the innermost part of the self.

Three sisters, Stella, Luce and Aria, live in an isolated house, immersed in the shadows, submitted by a violent and authoritarian father, a religious fanatic obsessed with the end of the world, who keeps them prisoners behind locks and closed windows, under the pretext that the Apocalypse has finally arrived.

An Italian boy dreams of becoming a bullfighter. In the sunny Andalusian pasture, a calf is born destined to be a fighting bull. Humans and animals grow up in totally different worlds, but their lives reflect each other. Only in the end will they meet.

1982. French actress Eddie is on the verge of collapse and travels to Rome accompanied by her loyal makeup artist, Valentina, to shoot a science-fiction film – a film that could be her last one.

Hana, a shy sweet sixteen, is secretly in love with Mario, a schoolmate and half of popular youtube duo Luka & Mario. Hana observes the shoot in which Luka accidentally hurts Mario. Hana helps Mario with the wound, and gets invited to go with him and Luka to a lake where they will shoot a solar eclipse tomorrow.

A trip into the rediscovered life of the elderly.

During the Resistance, in November 1943, the “Women's Defence Groups for the Assistance of Freedom Fighters” were formed. These groups organised demonstrations to demand peace in the city and in the municipalities of the province; the women collected clothing for the partisans, made flags and armbands, the older ones knitted woollen socks and jumpers, the younger ones became gappiste (female partisans), couriers or took up arms. Marisa, Carmen, Carla and the other protagonists of this story took part in the Resistance in Piedmont, and now they recount that period, illustrating its difficulties, commitment, losses, growth and achievements.

A journey into the pre-adolescent world to recount the year of Covid. A portrait of Italy seen through the eyes of boys and girls aged between 10 and 14. The virus, quarantine, home schooling, distant friends, suspended activities, the new normal. The dreams, fears, and fantasies of young people during the pandemic...

A conversation between the filmmaker Manoel de Olivieira and the writer Agustina Bessa-Luís, filmed in December 2005.