Avemmaria (2026)
Director: Fortunato Cerlino
Cast: Salvatore Esposito, Marianna Fontana, Mario Di Leva, Carmine Borrino, Franca Abategiovanni
In a crumbling apartment with just two dim rooms, young Felice lives crammed alongside his recently unemployed father Raffaele, his mother Antonietta—still young but hollowed out by sorrow—his bitter grandmother Filomena, who never wears anything but black, and three brothers, with a fourth on the way. Trapped in a world ruled by poverty and brutality, a boy like him has two choices: let the weight crush him, or hold tight to his dreams. His imagination becomes his only escape, but in the hardscrabble neighborhood of Pianura, dreaming is treated like a sin—being poor and hopeful is seen as a flaw. That is, until his teacher Giulia spots his gift for singing and opens a door to something bigger. When Felice lays eyes on Neil Armstrong’s footprint in his textbook, it dawns on him: maybe he, too, can escape Pianura and set foot on the moon.