‘The Story of Frank and Nina’ Debuts Clip Ahead of Venice Premiere

Paola Randi’s coming-of-age drama “The Story of Frank and Nina,” which has its world premiere in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Extra program, has debuted a first clip (below). International distribution is being handled by Fandango Sales.

The synopsis runs as follows: “It’s up to Gollum to tell us ‘La storia del Frank e della Nina’ — only, he doesn’t speak, and has to write it on the wall. He’s the guardian of those words, the ones that can’t come out of his mouth, the ones he writes on buildings as if the city was a big amplifier.

“Frank has stopped existing a couple years back, but to make a living he sells homework outside of school. He’s waiting till he turns 18 to take the train and clear out. Frank’s version of reality is so compelling that we all believe him.

“Until he meets Nina. Practical and ambitious, she made the mistake of listening to the grownups and now she’s in trouble. Now life as she wants it is only in the pictures she takes. She is a mother and a wife. And she’s 16. She now knows that to be free she needs to study. She hires Frank to help with her middle school licence. But studying in itself is dangerous stuff in her situation. And the more they study, the more they get to know each other, they almost become a family, at least until reality catches up with them. Still, as Frank says, ‘Reality is a point of view’ — so then they might be able to write their own version of the story, after all.”

In a statement, the director says: “‘La storia del Frank e della Nina’ is a coming-of-age novel for dreamers that comes from the desire to tell the story of my city: Milan. Because Milan is a city of dreamers.

“And the three protagonists are almost adults, searching for their place in the world, for freedom, for the affirmation of their uniqueness, for their way of living reality and relationships, for an anarchic love.

“The heroes of this story are the kids, their dreams and the city. A silent narrator, a revolutionary realist and an inveterate dreamer in a Milan caressed by the fog, distant as a desire, romantic and complex, hidden and irresistible, in pursuit of the future. ‘La storia del Frank e della Nina’ is the story of three kids fighting against reality.”

The main cast is composed of Gabriele Monti, Ludovica Nasti, Samuele Teneggi, Marco Bonadei, Bruno Bozzetto, Dave Giuseppe Seke, Alessandra Casella and Anna Ferzetti.

The film is produced by Domenico Procacci and Laura Paolucci. It is co-produced by Peter Luisi and David Luisi. It is a co-production between Fandango, Rai Cinema, Spotlight Media Productions and RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera.