OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2023 VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Opening Night Gala)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2024 OPEN ROADS NEW ITALIAN CINEMA NEW YORK (Opening Night Gala)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2024 ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL
Featuring a powerhouse performance from Pierfrancesco Favino (The Last Night of Amore, Nostalgia, The Traitor), the gripping maritime thriller COMANDANTE is based on the true story of a Sicilian WWII naval captain's act of wartime humanitarianism.
Oct 15, 1940. Nighttime. The Italian Royal Navy submarine Cappellini is navigating the Atlantic Ocean, under the command of Salvatore Todaro (Favino), when she comes upon a merchant ship sailing with lights out. After the ship suddenly opens fire on the Cappellini, it is quickly sunk. Disobeying orders from his own Fascist command, Salvatore makes a selfless decision - one that puts his crew at great risk, but which also makes history.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Edoardo de Angelis (Indivisible, The Vice of Hope) who co-authored the screenplay with Sandro Veronesi, and featuring a striking score by Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja, this tense and exciting anti-war epic eschews sensationalism and sentimentality in order to closely examine the courage of upholding one’s ethics in times of social rupture.