Skip to main content
The Birthday Party film image

The Birthday Party

Il compleanno di Enrico

North American Premiere

At the height of the Y2K scare, young Francesco is confronted with some new realities when he attends his friend Enrico’s birthday party at a remote country home.

 

This short is playing before the feature film Bitten.

Director
Cast

Nicola Cannarella, Matthias Tormen, Denis Fasolo, Elia Luciani, Luisa Trigilla

Credits
Country of Origin

Germany/France/Italy

Year

2023

Language

In Italian with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
18 min

Credits

Producer

Cecilia Trautvetter, François-Pierre Clavel

Screenwriter

Francesco Sossai

Cinematography

Giulia Schelhas

Editor

Francesco Sossai

Original Music

Non voglio che Clara

Director

Francesco Sossai headshot

Francesco Sossai

Francesco Sossai was born in the Italian Dolomites area. He started filming short films at an early age. He moved to Rome where he graduated in English and German Literatures. He was then admitted at the DFFB – German Television Film Academy in Berlin. His first feature length film “Altri Cannibali” celebrated its world premiere at PÖFF 2021 where it was awarded as „Best First Feature“. The film subsequently had its Italian premiere at the 39th Torino Film Festival and was screened worldwide in numerous other festivals. Francesco is currently working on his second feature „Le città della pianura“, a coproduction between Italy and France. He lives in Veneto, Italy.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Universal Language

Dir. Matthew Rankin
89 min

In a wintery, Farsi-speaking city that’s equal measures Winnipeg and Tehran, storylines entangle and the concepts of space, time, and identity grow increasingly opaque. Inventive and absurd, Rankin's poetic fable reminds us that Winnipeg is a wonderland. Rated: G

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat

Dir. Johan Grimonprez
150 min

In January 1961, seven months after Congolese independence, Patrice Lumumba is assassinated. In excavating the history of this political murder, this essay-film traces the complex and unlikely intersections of American jazz and Cold War geopolitics.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

LIZA: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story

Dir. Bruce David Klein
104 min

Even if you think you know about Liza Minnelli, you're guaranteed to glean unexpected insights into this admiring portrait of pizzazz personified.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof
167 min

A tense mystery and an act of radical protest, this film tells the story of an Iranian lawyer who’s lost his handgun and knows someone in his family took it. With every moment, his wife and daughters grow more afraid of him–yet none of them will confess…

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Broken Social Scene: It's All Gonna Break

Dir. Stephen Chung
89 min

As Broken Social Scene emerged in the early oughts to become one of the essential indie bands of the era, cameraman Stephen Chung was right there with them, shooting shows, recording sessions, parties, you name it.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines

Dir. Ryan Mah & Danny Berish
80 min

This new documentary offers the most complete account so far of the life and work of Canada's greatest architect, the man responsible for several of the finest buildings in Vancouver -- including the Museum of Anthropology and the SFU Campus.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre