| Notturno | |
|---|---|
 Italian theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Gianfranco Rosi |
| Story by | Gianfranco Rosi |
| Produced by |
|
| Cinematography | Gianfranco Rosi |
| Edited by | Jacopo Quadri |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by |
|
Release dates |
|
Running time | 100 minutes[1] |
| Countries |
|
| Languages | Arabic Kurdish |
| Box office | $119,354[2] |
Notturno is a 2020documentary film written and directed byGianfranco Rosi. Shot during three years (2017-2019), it follows theMiddle East population who live in war zones.
The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the77th Venice International Film Festival on 8 September 2020. It was theatrically released in Italy on 9 September 2020 by01 Distribution. It was selected as the Italian entry for theBest International Feature Film at the93rd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[3]
Shot over the course of three years betweenSyria,Iraq,Kurdistan, andLebanon,Notturno follows different people from areas near war zones in theMiddle East who are trying to start over again with their everyday lives.[4] A group of female soldiers is shown standing guard, clearing empty buildings and relaxing in their barracks. A man in a small boat hunts for water fowl at night with the sound of machine gun fire in the distance. At a psychiatric hospital, a group of patients are given scripts to memorize for a play about the current state of their homeland and are shown rehearsing their parts. A boy, Ali, is paid five dollars a day to help a duck hunter. A couple admire the beauty of the night sky; the man then puts on his thob, picks up his drum, and walks the streets of the town playing the instrument and singing a song in praise of the prophet. At a school, as a form of therapy, children draw graphic pictures of the war atrocities they witnessed and describe their experiences to their teacher. One of the most cruel scenes is the one which shows a veiled Kurdish mother in the jail cell where her son had been tortured and killed. Another scene concerns a mother listening to phone messages from her daughter who has been kidnapped byISIS terrorists who are demanding a ransom.[5]
In January 2018, it was announcedGianfranco Rosi would direct the film, with Météore Films distributing the film in France.[6][7]
The film had its world premiere at the77th Venice International Film Festival on 8 September 2020.[8] It also screened at theToronto International Film Festival on 15 September 2020[9] and at theNew York Film Festival on 6 October 2020.[10][11][12] It was also selected to screen at theTelluride Film Festival in September 2020, prior to its cancellation due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[13] In December 2020,Super LTD acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film.[14]
It was released in Italy on 9 September 2020 by01 Distribution.[15] It is scheduled to be released in the United States throughvirtual cinema on 22 January 2021, followed byvideo on demand on 29 January 2021.[16] It is scheduled to be released in France on 7 April 2021, and it was screened in Norway in October 2022 at theMirage Film Festival.[17][18]
Notturno holds an 82% approval rating on review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, based on 66 reviews, with an average of 7.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Notturno contemplates the cost of war in starkly human terms by surveying the lives of people living under the threat of destruction."[19] OnMetacritic, the film holds a rating of 75 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[20]