{"id":107250,"date":"2026-07-23T15:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T15:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/107250\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T15:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T15:06:10","slug":"locarno-screener-armony-secures-swiss-distribution-with-xenix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/107250\/","title":{"rendered":"Locarno Screener ‘Armony’ Secures Swiss Distribution With Xenix"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tItalian director Dario Albertini\u2019s family drama \u201cArmony\u201d has secured Swiss distribution via Xenix Filmdistribution ahead of its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival<\/a>\u2018s Piazza Grande section. <\/p>\n

\n\tSold internationally by True Colours, \u201cArmony\u201d is produced by Fremantle company The Apartment<\/a>, Damocle and Rai Cinema in association with HBO Max<\/a>. It stars Valerio Mastandrea<\/a>, Asia Argento<\/a>, who will receive the Life Achievement Award<\/a> in Locarno, and newcomer Aurora Cherchi.<\/p>\n

\n\tWritten by Albertini and Simone Ranucci, \u201cArmony\u201d tells the story of an unconventional but loving family. At its center is Armony (Mastandrea), a solitary, 55-year-old truck driver who is forced to care for his 6-year-old niece, Carlotta (Cherchi), after his sister\u2019s disappearance. <\/p>\n

\n\tFinding help from Pamela, an older transgender woman (played by the late Pamela Schettino in her final performance), and Jenny (Clara Tramontano), his young, pregnant neighbor, a chosen family soon forms. Their fragile happiness is threatened, however, when social services move to take Carlotta away, forcing Armony to confront a difficult journey to fight for legal custody.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cast also includes Nando Paone, Elena Lietti, Francesca Antonelli and Ornella Muti.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2019Armony\u2019 won us over with its intimate portrayal of the characters and its authenticity,\u201d says Xenix\u2019s Cyrille Thurston. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Locarno premiere will certainly boost the film\u2019s prospects in the country, she adds.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are convinced that word-of-mouth will have a positive effect and that visitors to the Piazza Grande will recommend the film to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cArmony\u201d is the first Albertini film to be distributed by Xenix, which regularly releases Italian titles in Switzerland, among them Nanni Moretti\u2019s upcoming \u201cIt Will Happen Tonight<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn making his latest film, Albertini sought to explore family ties through the lens of loneliness and \u201chow an unexpected event can rekindle a sense of responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe story also reflects the economic hardships afflicting parts of Italian society, the director adds. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is undoubtedly a deeply rooted aspect in the areas where the film is set. As happens in many parts of Italy, the problem of finding work or decent housing is compounded by personal and family vulnerabilities. And yet, it is precisely in the darkest moments that, if one finds the strength to look at one\u2019s reality from a different perspective, the desire to fight back can emerge. This leads people to open themselves up to new paths that, until then, had seemed unsuitable for them or beyond their reach, especially when the most intimate and family bonds come into play. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAt first, Armony chooses to live a life that is almost on the margins, held back by the fear of confronting the outside world and, above all, by a deep fear of bonding and surrendering to affection,\u201d Albertini explains.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film was mainly shot on location in Fiumara, near Fiumicino, a coastal area on the outskirts of Rome \u201cthat nevertheless feels profoundly distant from today\u2019s reality,\u201d the director told Variety.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis location allowed Armony to immerse himself in a context completely unknown to him, visually amplifying his sense of estrangement. The fact that the setting has remained unchanged over the years made it possible to capture a territory untouched by modernization, a microcosm suspended in time. At the same time, Fiumara\u2019s enclosed layout visually conveys the idea of a closed space. This made it possible to stage, in an almost tangible way, the protagonist\u2019s tension, constantly watched by eyes scrutinizing him from within a tightly knit community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe idea behind \u201cArmony\u201d \u201ccomes from a true story that happened to someone very dear to me,\u201d Albertini says. \u201cIt is from this intimate fragment of life that I developed the entire evolution of the story. At the center of the narrative is the theme of parenthood, explored through the eyes of someone who chooses to give it up out of sheer fear and inadequacy. And yet, when fate brings us together with someone in a completely unexpected way, our defenses collapse. From that unexpected encounter comes a genuine spark, capable of turning the story into a journey into the human soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the role of Armony, Mastandrea was ideally suited to bring life to the character, Albertini added.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe character of Armony had been conceived a long time ago, but I could not quite find its true shape. Valerio was able to grasp its most intimate and hidden nuances, making every gesture feel natural and removing any trace of staged performance. Thanks to this work, Armony fits perfectly into the story.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Italian director Dario Albertini\u2019s family drama \u201cArmony\u201d has secured Swiss distribution via Xenix Filmdistribution ahead of its world…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[52397,29641,35563,41,17,52398,52399],"class_list":["post-107250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-asia-argento","tag-hbo-max","tag-locarno-film-festival","tag-swiss","tag-switzerland","tag-the-apartment","tag-valerio-mastandrea"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116969916657923107","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}