Italy, 1900. Young Agata’s baby is stillborn and so, condemned to limbo. Agata hears about a place in the mountains, where infants can be brought back to life for just one breath. She undertakes a voyage and meets Lynx, a solitary boy who offers to help her. They set off on an adventure which will enable both to come close to a miracle that seems impossible. Laura Samani’s first feature film premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2021.

Director’s statement:
In 2016, I discovered that in Trava, in my Friuli Vene- zia-Giulia, existed a sanctuary where up until the 19th century, particular miracles were said to occur: that still- born children could be brought back to life for the space of one breath. A miracle such as this was necessary in order to baptize these babies, who were otherwise con- demned to be buried in unconsecrated grounds, like burying a dead cat. Without baptism they could never have a name or an identity; their souls would wander eternally in Limbo. These kinds of places are called à répit, or sanctuaries of breath or truce, and were present throughout the Alps (France alone had nearly two hun- dred) and it is surprising that this history is nearly total- ly unknown despite the size of the phenomenon. The story of these miracles got snagged in some nook of my mind and stayed there, calling for attention.

Note on the production:
The journey of SMALL BODY began in 2016, thanks to a meeting between Nadia Trevisan, the producer for Nefertiti Film, and Laura Samani, a brilliant, young, debuting director.
It all started in Friuli Venezia Giulia: SMALL BODY is a film born of this territory because stories such as Agata’s, the protagonist of the film, are part of the Friuli people’s cultural memories.
The producers, having already brought a “little” local story to European cinemas with Menocchio, by Alberto Fasulo (International Locarno Festival Competition 2018, K3 FF 2018), once again bet on their region of origin, which, unsurprisingly, is also where Laura Samani and Nefertiti Film originate. Given this important starting point, the producers built a tailor-made project for a very ambitious debut work: a period film with mostly non-actors, almost entirely filmed out-of-doors.
Later Thomas Lambert’s French Tomsa Films production company and Danijel Hočevar’s Slovenian Vertigo entered a coproduction structure, actively cooperating and pro- viding the project their particular perspectives. Shooting was done almost entirely in Friuli Venezia Giulia, starting in Veneto and ending in Rome.