It's a common sight at film festivals: directors and actors stand to accept applause as the credits roll. But at Rome's 18th International Film Festival, something different happened. When the lights came up in the Teatro Studio Borgna after Francesco Munzi's Kripton, the response was both astonished and deeply moved—because sitting in the audience were some of the faces we had just seen on screen: young people with mental and behavioral disorders who had volunteered to be filmed and interviewed over months as they engaged with medical services designed to help them gradually reintegrate into society.
Their illnesses compound the ordinary struggles of youth. Some are nearly invisible, revealing themselves only through accounts that sound like waking dreams; others leave visible marks on face and body, as anorexia does. This very invisibility—the kind only cinema can overturn—is why mental illness has been historically minimized, even though millions of Italians suffer from it. To drive home that any family could be touched, Munzi interspersed his subjects' stories with brief anonymous clips of home movies from the past: images of unknown, happy children and parents that suggest something crucial—that psychological harm often takes root in childhood, when life seems to promise only joy. But when left unspoken, it goes unrecognized and untreated.
In its most painful moments, the documentary examines with restraint the profound suffering within families of the ill. Yet it never closes the door on hope—on the hard, gradual, but genuine possibility of healing, a transformation made visible in flesh and blood when the young people stood to be applauded at the festival premiere. Winner of the audience award at the Rome International Documentary Festival, Kripton opens in theaters January 18, distributed by ZaLab.
Here's where and when the film will be shown, courtesy of ZaLab:
LAZIO
ROME – CINEMA TROISI January 18 at 7:00 p.m. with director Francesco Munzi, writer Emanuele Trevi, and Dr. Mauro Pallagrosi (psychiatrist, ASL Roma 1 and co-protagonist). Moderated by journalist Francesco Giai Via. Tickets available online.
Additional screenings: Saturday 1/20 at 5:15 p.m.
Sunday 1/21 at 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday 1/23 at 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday 1/24 at 8:30 p.m.
LOMBARDY
MILAN – CINEMA BELTRADE January 19 at 7:30 p.m. with director Francesco Munzi. Moderated by journalist Mattia Carzaniga. Tickets available online.
BRESCIA – NUOVO EDEN January 20 at 6:00 p.m. with director Francesco Munzi and Carla Ferrari Aggradi, president of the Mental Health Forum.
MANTUA – CINEMA MIGNON January 25 at 6:00 p.m. with director Francesco Munzi
in collaboration with Oltre la siepe Association.
Additional screening: Thursday 1/25 at 9:00 p.m. with the director.
BERGAMO – CINEMA DEL BORGO January 30 at 8:45 p.m. with director Francesco Munzi
PIEDMONT
TURIN – CINEMA MASSIMO January 21 at 6:00 p.m. with director Francesco Munzi. Moderated by Francesco Giai Via
EMILIA ROMAGNA
FERRARA – SALA ESTENSE January 22 at 9:00 p.m. with director Francesco Munzi.
BOLOGNA – MODERNISSIMO January 23 at 9:00 p.m. with director Francesco Munzi, Dr. Mauro Pallagrosi (psychiatrist, ASL Roma 1), and writer Ermanno Cavazzoni. In collaboration with Agis-Fice Emilia Romagna.
Additional screening: Thursday 1/25 at 4:00 p.m.
REGGIO EMILIA – ROSEBUD January 24 at 9:00 p.m. with director Francesco Munzi, Dr. Mauro Pallagrosi (psychiatrist, ASL Roma 1), and editor Cristiano Travaglioli. In collaboration with Agis-Fice Emilia Romagna.
MODENA – SALA TRUFFAUT January 26 at 9:00 p.m. with director Francesco Munzi. In collaboration with Agis-Fice Emilia Romagna.
CARPI – CINEMA EDEN January 26 with director Francesco Munzi. In collaboration with Agis-Fice Emilia Romagna.