PÖFF: Ciao Bambino

A black-and-white debut film is usually made for one of two reasons: "I don't have the money and it shows" or "It's an artistic request that succeeds perfectly." Edgardo Pistone's first film definitely falls into the second category. It's a triumph of stylish camerawork that's a joy to watch. But it's more than just a pretty movie. Ciao Bambino is a story of passion and unresolved conflicts that haunt Attilio, a working-class young man from Naples tasked with protecting a beautiful prostitute. In their world, this inevitably leads to a forbidden and devastating love - the only love possible in a criminal underworld where the father-son relationship is also destroyed and the 19-year-old boy bears the unbearable burden of adulthood. Malaika Bova