Free Screening The Miami Dade College Tower Theater, Cinema Italy and Società Dante Alighieri in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy are proud to invite you to a free screening to promote Italian Culture in South Florida.

La Sconosciuta (The Unknown Woman)

Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore Italy, 2006, 118 min.

Non Rated.

With Michele Placido, Alessandro Haber, Claudia Gerini and Piera Degli Espositi A sprawling Italian city of our times.

The "unknown woman" is Irena. She had come to Italy many years before from the Ukraine, and today lives amidst ghosts of the past and a search for the present: two planes of time that interweave, superimpose, and make up an intriguing puzzle, a taut high-tension narrative. Who is Irena truly? Little by little her story unfolds. The girl had fled Eastern Europe, as so many young women then. After surviving a cruel dramatic voyage, she fell easily prey to ruthless unscrupulous men. She was subjected to unspeakable brutalities and humiliations, the kind that permanently shock memory and can never be put to rest. Only one beautiful memory remains for Irena, a melancholic, heartrending lost love.

Today, Irena appears to us a wan and mysterious figure, yet a woman who still exerts a fascinating appeal. Deep down, despite these tragic events, her character has remained intact. Under a seemingly submissive appearance, her natural pride and fierce rebellious power remain undaunted. The woman seems to have a very precise motive when she solicits the help of the doorman of an apartment building to find work as a cleaning lady there. The man, not at all disinterested, helps her get a job in the building, which is right across the street from where she herself has decided to live. From the window of her apartment, she spies intently upon the building across the street. Though Irena's job is to clean and polish the stairs of that building, her true aim is to get close to a family living there.

(In Italian with English subtitles)