My Place Is Here (Italian: Il mio posto è qui) is a 2024 Italian drama film written and directed by Cristiano Bortone and Daniela Porto, based on the novel of the same name by Porto. It premiered at the Bari International Film Festival on 23 March 2024 and received a theatrical release in Italy on 9 May 2024.
Premise
In a rural village in Calabria in the 1940s, Marta, a young single mother forced into marrying a man she doesn't love, meets Lorenzo, a wedding planner and the only gay man in their town. Their friendship will lead Marta to reexamine the prejudices of their bigoted community and seek her own place in the world as a woman.
Writer and director Daniela Porto, who was born to Calabrian parents, was inspired to write the film after learning about an openly gay man in her parents' village who helped women plan their weddings.[1] Filming took place in Gerace, Reggio Calabria,[2][3] as well as Fasano and Gioia del Colle in Apulia.[4][5]
The film is shot in a little town in Calabria called Gerace, which really is quite untouched and we were fascinated by the tonalities there, and we tried to create this world in which there was not a lot of color, and somehow everything was into the mud and earth and stone kind of tonality, including the clothes, because if you look at the pictures of the time, you don’t see these sparkling happy flowery colors that come later. Then everything was very brownish. The people were farmers; they were workers.
Beta Cinema acquired international sales rights to the film in February 2024.[6][7] The trailer was released on 15 March 2024.[8][9]
Reception
Critical response
Carola Proto of Comingsoon.it gave the film three-and-a-half out of five stars and commended the performances of Ludovica Martino and Marco Leonardi.[10] Giulia Lucchini of Cinematografo compared the film to There's Still Tomorrow and wrote, "This story of female emancipation and the fight against prejudice, despite some small stumbles, is ultimately convincing."[11]
