(Adnkronos / Cinematografo.it) – “This story is part of a broader exploration, which began with my previous film, regarding the complexities of abandonment, psychological and emotional dynamics deriving from not being accepted”. Andrea Pallaoro introduces Monica and returns to the Venice Competition five years after Hannah: this time it’s up to Monica (“second chapter of a trilogy whose final chapter I still have to imagine”), played by Trace Lysette, a present of complicated relationships (multiple phone calls to an elusive Jimmy, who never answers), a past with which to make peace when an unexpected call brings her back to the presence of her elderly mother, Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson), now nearing its end due to a bad illness. For the part of the protagonist, the director, born in Trento but now living in the States for 23 years, between Los Angeles and New York, chose Trace Lysette after seeing thirty candidates: “The first meeting was enough with her, for her ability of being rather than acting and of having immediately understood the psychological space of the character. Monica for me is a modern heroine, a woman capable of forgiving. “The actress, already one of the protagonists of the Transparent series, has recently completed the transition and says that at 25” I found myself experiencing the worst moment of my life, a friend of mine who is no longer here gave me courage, telling me to invest in myself and start acting courses, then came the possibility of Law & Order, where I played the part of a woman, and later Transparent “. The film – which will arrive in Italy with I Wonder Pictures – outlines the hypothesis of regaining a relationship – the mother-daughter one – that once was abruptly interrupted, when Monica was still a boy and – we arrive to understand – the family rejected the idea of his transition. “When I read the script I immediately grasped the truth about this transgender character, the complexity of the relationships with his family, with Andrea then there was a sort of collaboration too before you start are to shoot “, says Trace Lysette, who does not hide that she also drew on her own personal experiences to face the work, considering that” the task of every actor should always be to seek the truth. “” Compared to Hannah I believe that this is a more affectionate, warmer film, Monica’s is a character who offers a sort of paradigm of courage and generosity, who manages to forgive and get up, Hannah instead could not make it “, says the director again, who on aesthetic aspect of the film (with an aspect ratio of 1.2: 1, an anomalous 4: 3) explains: “We wanted to find a way to enhance the subject with respect to the landscape, above all to make sure that two or more bodies in the same shot were perceived in a relationship of co-dependence and suffocation, claustrophobia, which was fundamental for us and helped us to use the home run to highlight even more the relationship between inside and outside, between psychological and physical “. this, however, the director is keen to specify, is that “every narrative, conceptual, formal choice in all phases of production has at its center the relationship with the viewer, in whom I always have enormous trust: this is because when I make a film I always imagine myself on the other side of the screen and the relationship I’m looking for is the one that leads to an individual, personal catharsis, where questions are suggested rather than answers ”.