Veteran director Marco Bellochio returns to the Festival with this rousing historical epic fresh from Cannes. Based on the true story of Edgardo Mortara, a six-year-old Jewish boy who was abducted by the Catholic church in 19th-century Italy. Unbeknown to his parents young Edgardo had been secretly baptised by his family’s doting Catholic maid and when the story is revealed the fanatical church authorities take it as their cue to snatch the boy and whisk him away to the Vatican where he can be raised as a Catholic.

View the full NZIFF 2023 programme at nziff.co.nz.