With the lack of women filmmakers a hot topic at Cannes, Italy’s Nanni Moretti has shown the semi-autobiographical “Mia Madre” (My Mother) about a female director whose mother is dying and own life is out of control.
In a brilliant blend of comedy and pathos, the competition film shown on Saturday draws on a small pool of actors and actresses including Margherita Buy as the director Margherita, Italian stage actress Giulia Lazzarini as the dying Ada and Beatrice Mancini as the director’s teenaged daughter.
Moretti, who was inspired to make the film when his own mother died while he was directing a previous film, further personalizes this one by playing Margherita’s brother.
