Monica

  Italian filmmaker, Andrea Pallaoro, celebrated his second time in competition at last year’s Venice Film Festival with his third film, Monica, starring Trace Lysette (Transparent) and Patricia Clarkson (She Said, The Station Agent). The 42-year-old filmmaker from Trento divides his time between Los Angeles and Italy and first won acclaim with his 2008 short film, Wunderkammer, followed by the feature films, Medeas (2013) and Hannah (2017), starring Charlotte Rampling.

After participating in the movie Hustlers alongside Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu, Trace Lysette returns to the big screen as the protagonist of Monica, by Andrea Pallaoro. It’s an intimate drama about a transgender woman who comes back home to take care of her dying mother.

“The impetus to make this film was better to understand the consequences and complexities of the theme of abandonment, which I have dealt with in my own life, and which is something that I recognize is at the center of most of my creative explorations,” says Italian-born director and writer Andrea Pallaoro, talking about his latest film, Monica, about to be seen in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Pallaoro's work as a filmmaker focuses primarily on the exploration of women's feelings and emotional journeys.