Edition 24: 1–9 August, 2025

VIEW FROM THE WORLD

The Disappearance of my Mother

La scomparsa di mia madre

Italy
2019 — 35' / Color

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Synopsis

Benedetta wants to disappear. An iconic fashion model in the 1960s, she became a muse to Warhol, Dali, Penn and Avedon. As a radical feminist in the 1970s, she fought for the rights and emancipation of women. But at the age of 75, she becomes fed up with all the roles that life has imposed upon her and decides to leave everything and everybody behind. Hiding behind the camera, her son Beniamino witnesses her journey. He now wants to make a film about her. The making of the film turns into a battle between mother and son, a stubborn fight to capture the ultimate image of Benedetta – the image of her liberation.

Official Trailer

Director Biography

Born in 1986, Beniamino Barrese graduated with a degree in Philosophy at Statale di Milano, International Political Economy at King’s College London and later received his MA in Cinematography at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, UK. Since 2011 he has been working as a filmmaker, director of photography and photographer. His work as a DP includes fiction and documentary features, commercials, fashion films, music promos and short films, which have travelled around festivals worldwide. The Disappearance of My Mother is his first feature-length film as a director.

Director

Beniamino Barrese

Producer

Filippo Macelloni

Cinematographer

Beniamino Barrese

Editor

Valentina Cicogna

Sound

Massimo Mariani