MoMA Film Trailers: Mid-August Lunch / Pranzo di ferragosto

Mid-August Lunch / Pranzo di ferragosto. 2008. Directed by Gianni Di Gregorio. Italy. One of Italys leading scriptwriters, 59-year-old Gianni Di Gregorio (screenwriter of Gomorrah), stars in his utterly charming directorial debut as the money-troubled Giovanni, who spends his days caring for his elderly mother. Giovanni discovers that some of his back rent will be forgotten if he also takes in his landlords elderly mother for a few days during the traditional mid-August holiday. But when the landlord arrives, he has both his mother and aunt in tow. Then Giovannis friend Luigi shows up with a similar caretaking request for his own aged mother. Winner of multiple festival awards including Venices Isverma Award for best first film and Londons Satyajit Ray Award, Mid-August Lunch has a wonderfully loose, almost improvised feel in which Di Gregorio focuses on following the natural rhythms of his houseguests' interactions with each other rather than a set storyline. 75 minutes Trailer courtesy of the filmmaker