Where Life Begins

<p><img alt="Laurel icon denoting the film is in competition for a Jury Prize." border="0" src="https://data.ajff.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/laurel_2023_JuryPrize_01.png" style="width:20%; max-width:20%; margin-left:10px; float:right;" />In this lyrical drama of human connection set in the Italian countryside, a stifled rabbi’s daughter and conflicted farmer long to escape their constraints. Each summer, Esther (Lou de Laâge) travels with her French ultra-Orthodox family to a scenic Calabria estate to harvest etrogs for Sukkot. Trapped by the suffocating rituals of her faith, the despairing, defiant young woman captures the attention of the farm’s owner Elio (Riccardo Scamarcio), a lapsed Catholic and divorcé. A fleeting encounter and flicker of desire might just give these tormented souls the mettle to forge a new life they so desperately crave. Visually sumptuous and deeply moving, this subtle portrayal of self-realization is the directorial debut of French actor-turned-director Stéphane Freiss.</p>