LIFF18 A Woman's Name

Synopsis

A woman courageously tries to break the silence in a culture of complicity surrounding sexual harassment in this gripping drama from the Cannes Film Festival award-winning director of The Best of Youth (2003), Marco Tullio Giordana.

Nina Martini (Cristiana Capotondi, The Mafia Only Kills in Summer LIFF14) is a young mother who moves from Milan to a small village in Lombardy, where with the help of a local priest she finds temporary work with the Barrata elderly residence. It’s a relief for her to get a job at last and she enjoys the quietness of the place and bonds quickly with the staff of thirty women. Soon she discovers the post comes with unexpected strings attached, and that the residence is hiding an uncomfortable secret. When Nina finds out, she will be forced to confront her colleagues, who fear losing their jobs if they speak up, to confront the manager in a passionate battle to assert her rights and dignity.

With the support of a female-rights lawyer, Nina breaks her silence putting herself at odds with the other staff members and the Roman Catholic Church in what promises to be a hard-fought case.