The Shadow of the Day

Post-screening discussion with director Giuseppe Piccioni on Jan. 13 & 14

A thoroughly gripping tale of love against odds set in Italy of the late 1930s, The Shadow of the Day follows provincial restaurant owner Luciano (Riccardo Scamarcio, Where Life Begins), a veteran wounded in World War I and a fascist sympathizer who has cut himself off from the world and his own emotions. Soon, a mysterious, penniless young woman, Anna (Benedetta Porcaroli), arrives at his doorstep looking for a job; gradually her presence begins to open him up to the possibility of human connection. At the same time, the dangerous antisemitism and political realities of Europe are creeping into their daily lives, leading to a reckoning that will force Luciano to question everything he thinks he knows about the world and his own heart. Filmed in the picturesque town of Ascoli Piceno in central Italy, Giuseppe Piccioni’s beautifully mounted human drama demonstrates the possibility of redemption in the darkest times.