Nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2025, Mario Martone’s vibrant biopic rebels against the rules as strongly as its spirited protagonist, undoubtedly one the greatest voices in 20th-century Italian literature. The narrative centres around Goliarda Sapienza’s (a fantastic Valeria Golino) time in prison and the summer after her release, which she shares with a young activist (Matilda de Angelis, soon to appear in Luc Besson’s Dracula), discovering “the art of joy” together with the constraints imposed by societal norms. Martone (Grand Jury Prize at Venice for Death of a Neapolitan Mathematician) alongside director of photography Paolo Carnera (David di Donatello for Io, Capitano) breathe life and vivacity into this portrait of the groundbreaking Sicilian author who, as the credits remind us, is remembered as much for capacity for love as for fury.