It all begins in the dusty, noisy streets of Rome, amid the children’s screams echoing through the gates of Cinecittà. In this gritty drama by Luchino Visconti, the ambition and desperation of a working-class mother clash with the bright and ruthless lights of the film world. Maddalena puts everything she has on the line to make her young daughter a star of the big screen. As the boundaries between dreams and reality blur in the studio corridors where auditions are held, every moment in front of the camera lays bare the mother’s stubborn struggle and the inner workings of the system.

1 win & 1 nomination