Primavera

The improbable relationship between a young orphan violin virtuoso and composer Antonio Vivaldi in early-18th-century Venice is at the heart of acclaimed opera and theater director Damiano Michieletto’s debut feature. Cecilia (Tecla Insolia) lives at the Ospedale della Pietà, a secluded home for abandoned girls run by no-nonsense nuns, while she awaits the return of the man with whom she will enter an arranged marriage when he returns home from war. But when the Pietà brings on Vivaldi to serve as their new musical instructor, Cecilia’s life takes a turn, and the possibility of a hitherto unimagined future emerges. Written by Ludovica Rampoldi (whose own directorial debut, A Brief Affair, is also in this year’s edition of Open Roads), Primavera is a gripping, gorgeously realized meditation on the seldom-simple relationship between talent and destiny. Winner of four David di Donatello Awards: Best Composer, Best Sound, Best Costumes, and Best Hair.