Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2018: # 35. Alice Rohrwacher’s Lazzaro Felice

Published on January 4, 2018

Lazzaro Felice

Italian director Alice Rohrwacher, also known as the sister of acclaimed actress Alba Rohrwacher, has quietly become one of the most prominent contemporary women directors out of Italy. Following her well-received 2011 debut Corpo Celeste, Rohrwacher broke into the Cannes main competition in 2014, which won the Grand Prize of the Jury with The Wonders. While her third feature (formerly going by the working title of My Bitter Land), Lazzaro felice reunites her with her sister in the cast (as well as notable thesps Sergi Lopez and Nicoletta Braschi), it’s headlined by newcomers Adriano Tadioli and Luca Chikovani. Little else is known of the plot except for a focus on juxtapositions and contrasts (seasons, cultural aesthetics, etc.) while once again reteaming with the great Helene Louvart.

Release Date/Prediction: Rohrwacher’s debut landed her in the Directors’ Fortnight in 2011. Seeing as her sophomore film picked up a major award in 2014, Lazzaro felice should be a major contender for the Cannes 2018 competition. However, Rohrwacher also faces stiff competition for the allotted Italian slots since both Sorrentino and Garrone may be vying for a spot.

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.