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

Best Boy

Dir. Jesse Noah Klein
91 min

Sibling rivalry is the name of the game in Jesse Noah Klein's pitch black comedy. Eli, Lawrence and Phillip (who's a woman) reunite after the passing of their father and, in accordance with his last wishes, compete for the prized title of "Best Boy".

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Greaser's Palace

Dir. Robert Downey Sr.
91 min

Co-editor of Truth & Soul: A Robert Downey Sr Reader, Kier-La Janisse, introduces this satirical and irreligious acid western, halfway between El Topo and Blazing Saddles from Iron Man's dad.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The End of the Internet + Installation & Talk

Dir. Dylan Reibling
107 min

Forget the cloud. "The net" is a far more accurate metaphor for the www. Filmmaker Dylan Reibling meets the hacktavists around the world fighting for the independent flow of information free from censorship and exploitation.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
More info

Sold Out

Lucid

Dir. Deanna Milligan & Ramsey Fendall
114 min

Art student Mia is struggling with a make-or-break assignment, a self-portrait. It's only when grandma lets slip that her mom used to hypnotize her as a child to blank out the bad bits that she realizes the severity of the challenge...

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Two Pianos

Dir. Arnaud Desplechin
115 min

Once promising concert pianist Mathias (François Civil) returns to his native Lyon after a long absence. He's here to pay homage to his mentor, Elena (Charlotte Rampling). But a chance encounter with an old flame sends him spiraling.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Richest Woman in the World

Dir. Thierry Klifa
123 min

Isabelle Huppert plays cosmetics CEO Marianne in this teasingly ambivalent satire inspired by the Bettancourt Affair, when L'Oreal heir Francoise Bettancourt scandalized France by frittering away her fortune on a notorious celebrity photographer.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre