cinematography
Daniele Ciprì
editing
Simona Paggi
sound
Gianfranco Tortora
costumes
Erika Carretta

cast
Barbara Ronchi (Clara)
Mersila Sokoli (Vera)
Glen Blackhall (Leone)
Diana Collepiccolo (Coro 1)
Paola Giannetti (Coro 2)
Tatiana Lepore (Coro 3)
Alfonso Guadagnino
(Giudice principale Concorso)
Michele Savoia
(Annunciatore Concorso)

productions
Faber Produzioni
Stemal Entertainment
Draka Production
with Rai Cinema
producers
Donatella Palermo
Corrado Azzollini

Italian press office
PUNTOeVIRGOLA

Rome during World War II. Clara and Vera spend all their time at home, having tea, cleaning up, and talking. They talk about everything: whatever has happened to each of them, the people who are gone, the people they miss. Mostly, what they chat about – popping up like a leitmotiv, like a chance to talk about what they aren’t supposed to talk about – is shoes. Which should be in good condition, decent, at least, if not elegant; and instead they have cracks in them, and the soles are peeling off. But no point in complaining: these are the shoes they have to work with. They need be proud, and even – though in wartime it seems absurd – be pleased, a little. Why not arrange a competition for old shoes, complete with a judge and contestants? Scarpe rotte is the story of two women and their close bond. And how, sometimes, dreams can keep the world’s chaos at bay.

2026 Scarpe rotte
2023 Mi fanno male i capelli
2022 Le favolose (doc)
2017 Riccardo va all’Inferno
2010 I baci mai dati
2006 Mare Nero
2001 Angela
2000 Sud Side Story
1998 Tano da morire

“Scarpe rotte grew out of a desire to explore the intimately human condition of waiting and hoping. I was interested in that form of silent resistance that shows in little everyday gestures, or faithfulness to a lover, a promise, or a memory. This is why I opted to make the film entirely in the studio: not to achieve a realistic reconstruction of the Rome of the day but to craft a suspended space where places become inner landscapes. Similarly, archive photos here have no documentary function; rather, they surface like memories, traces, or fragments, interweaving collective memory and personal experience. Scarpe rotte is a film about time and history and the traces it leaves in objects and our own bodies; a film about our memory as a living presence and about the ghosts of those we have loved, complices who inhabit our days.” (Roberta Torre)

Stage and film director as well as writer for both, Roberta Torre is considered one of the most eclectic artists on the contemporary Italian scene. Her directorial screen debut, Tano da morire (1997), premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Lion of the Future – Venice Prize for Debut Film, the International Critics’ Week prize, and a FIPRESCI Special Mention. Her career since has seen her explore a variety of genres, reworking musicals and blending fiction and documentary. Her films, such as Sud Side Stori, Angela, Mare Nero, I baci mai dati, Riccardo va all’inferno, Le favolose, and Mi fanno male i capelli, have made the rounds of the major international festivals, including Venice, Cannes, Locarno, Rome, IDFA, Tokyo, and Outfest Los Angeles, winning numerous awards. In parallel, she has worked extensively in theater, rewriting the classics for contemporary audiences. Since 2025, she has been the Artistic Director of the Teatro Luigi Pirandello in Agrigento.