Award-winning Italian director Emanuele Crialese publicly revealed for the first time that he was born a woman, during his participation in the Venice Film Festival.
Winner of the Special Jury Prize in Venice in 2011 for his film “Terraferma”, the director raised his biological sex during the press conference of his new film, “L’Immensita”, with Penelope Cruz.
“L’Immensita” follows an Italian family who grew up in Rome in the 1970s. The eldest daughter identifies as a boy, complicating the already tense relationship between her mother, played by Cruz, and her violent and unfaithful father.
“It’s inspired by my childhood and my story,” said Crialese. “I’m biologically born female, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a big part of (which is a) female character in me. That’s probably the best part of me,” she said, speaking of her transition for the first time.
“At some point I had to make a choice … live or die. You don’t choose to take that kind of journey. You were born that way,” he added.
She didn’t delve into her transition, but said that, as with her film, she often had the support of her mother and acknowledged the anxiety it caused her.
In the film, Cruz’s initially exuberant mother collapses under the weight of her bossy husband and trio of problem children, all marked by living in an unhappy home.
Cruz, who won the Best Actress award in Venice last year for “Parallel Mothers,” said her character is a prisoner in her own home, like so many others who find themselves in a situation they cannot escape.
“There are many women all over the world stuck in their own homes, trying to pretend in front of their children that nothing is as bad as it seems. It’s just (done) for survival. Presentation.
She also commented on why she is drawn to the role of mothers in movies. “Immensity” is the latest in a long line of films in which Cruz struggles with maternity issues.
“(I had) a very strong maternal instinct since I was a five-year-old girl who told everyone in the park that my plan was to become a mother as soon as possible,” she said.
“L’Immensita” will premiere on September 15 in Italy, but there is no release date for Brazil yet. Watch the trailer of the Italian production below.
Source: Terra
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