When Federica sees SIMPLE MEN in the cinema, featuring Elina Löwensohn, she feels connected to the actress in a magical way. Not least of all because she feels her own epilepsy has finally found expression on the screen. Years later, now a director herself, she has the chance to make a bio-pic with her idol. Alas, things quickly start to go sour in snowy Bucharest as Elina turns out to be everything but easy.

“It’s courageous for Malta to follow this non-conventional form of narration, and to enhance her reality with so many layers of real-life elements but embellishing them with magical realism.” (www.cineuropa.org)

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Chiara Malta was born in Rome and has been living in Paris since 2002. She graduated with a degree in Film, Theater and Media Studies and then attended the Ateliers Varan. Her documentary ARMANDO E LA POLITICA premiered as the opening night film at Turin Film Festival. She has written and directed many shorts, mixing fiction, animation and documentary. With LES YEUX DU RENARD, she has started a reflection on childhood, tinted with magical realism. SIMPLE WOMEN, which she developed as a Villa Medici resident artist in Rome, is her first feature film.

Filmography (selection): 2008 ARMANDO AND POLITICS, 2012 LES YEUX DU RENARD, 2017 HISTORIE DE STEFANO (both short films), 2019 SIMPLE WOMEN