Carlobianchi and Doriano are a pair of middle-aged drunks driving across Veneto, bar hopping and reminiscing about days past. Along the way they meet Giulio — a young architecture student, fascinated by the men and their bottomless well of anecdotes, who decides to tag along. The trio slosh their way through the city, waxing poetic, weaving tall tales, admiring the Venetian architecture, and endlessly searching for that one final drink.
Director Francesco Sossai (Other Cannibals, VIFF 2022) concocts an intoxicating blend of dry comedy and bittersweet drama in this lighthearted fable of camaraderie and debauchery that is equal parts Aki Kaurismäki and Alice Rohrwacher. Cinematographer Massimiliano Kuveiller captures the beauty of a dizzying evening in Veneto and the harsh morning light of a night that doesn’t end. The Last One for the Road is a celebration of the spirit of drink and the kinds of stories told around a table of old friends and too much wine.
Filippo Scotti, Pierpaolo Capovilla
Italy/Germany
2025
In Italian with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Producer
Marta Donzelli, Gregorio Paonessa
Screenwriter
Francesco Sossai, Adriano Candiago
Cinematography
Massimiliano Kuveiller
Editor
Paolo Cottignola
Production Design
Paula Meuthen
Original Music
Krano
Francesco Sossai
Francesco Sossai was born in Feltre, in the Italian Dolomites. He studied English and German literature at La Sapienza, Rome, and film direction at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie, Berlin. His films blend emotional realism and formal experimentation, exploring desire, violence, memory, and transformation. Screened and awarded at festivals in Tallinn, Vancouver, Cannes, Vila do Conde, Angers, and Busan, his work has earned nominations for the European Film Awards and the Deutsche Kurzfilmpreis.
Filmography: Other Cannibals (2021)
Photo by Greta DeLazzaris
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Magnolia
This deeply personal 1999 California opus is ripe for rediscovery. Mapping the emotional traumas of half-a-dozen major characters as they crisscross the San Fernando Valley in search of either recognition or reconciliation, it's PTA's riskiest gamble.
But I'm a Cheerleader
Megan (Natasha Lyonne) is the perfect All-American Girl, or so she thinks. That is until she’s shipped off to conversion therapy. This pitch black comedy is wrapped in a saccharine bow, featuring the icon herself, RuPaul, as a conversion counsellor.
Franz
Veteran Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland takes the bull by the horns to craft a Kafka biopic that's Kafkaesque and then some, artfully layering scenes from Kafka's life and works along with ironic present-day footage for a truly surreal counterpoint.