Sometimes it is not possoble to establish the identity of a corpse. That lifeless, nameless body could easily remain an unsolved mystery if, on its journey from the morgue to an anonymous grave in a random suburban cemetery, it doesn’t cross paths with a forensic scientist Cristina, who calls them the Pure Unknown. They often belong to the fringes of society, and lately, they have mostly been migrants, rejected by the Mediterranean Sea onto the shores of Italy. While doing autopsies and genetic tests, which bring the atmosphere of this film closer to the crime genre, Cristina does not give up on any of the Unknown, because she has learned that returning a corpse to those who loved that body means taking care of the living. And saving Europe from its indifference.
Torino FF: Special Mention (2023) Karlovy Vary IFF (2023) Hot Docs (2023) Visions du Réel (2023) Montreal IDF (2023) Biografilm Festival (2023) DMZ IDFF (2023) Solothurn FF (2024)
Valentina Cicogna
Valentina Cicogna was born in 1984, in Milan, Italy. She worked as assistant director and assistant editing on the documentary Napoli Piazza Municipio by Bruno Oliviero, winner in the Italiana Doc section at the Turin Film Festival in 2009. She is the screenwriter of the film La Variabile Umana by Bruno Oliviero. She was the editor of several documentaries feature films, including Quartieri Cinesi, Il giudice e il segreto di Stato, Il Comandante by Enrico Maisto, 74 Miglia by Laura Viezzoli and Oh! Pen by Mattia Colombo. She worked as a scriptwriter and editor of the documentary Voglio dormire con te by Mattia Colombo. She edited the film Ritmo Sbilenco – un filmino su Elio e le Storie Tese by Mattia Colombo, and the documentary Il Passo by Alessandra Locatelli, Mattia Colombo and Francesco Ferri. She is the author and editor of the documentary film La convocazione (The Summoning) by Enrico Maisto, winner of the 2015 Solinas Documentary Award for Cinema. The film was selected in competition at the 58th Festival of Peoples, where it won the MyMovies Audience Award, and at IDFA - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Her latest works include The Disappearance of My Mother by Beniamino Barrese, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2019, and Brotherhood by Francesco Montagner presented in Locarno 2021. Pure Unknown marks her directorial debut.
Mattia Colombo
Mattia Colombo was born in 1982, in Milan, Italy. His first short film Il Velo was selected at Visions du Réel, EIFF Edinburgh Film Festival and AFI Silver Docs 2010. The documentary Alberi che camminano was in competition at the Festival dei Popoli, Slamdance Film Festival (Sundance) and Trento Film Festival 2014. The documentary Voglio dormire con te participated in Cinéma du Réel and Biografilm Festival. The documentary Il Passo was presented at Visions du Réel 2016 and broadcast on Rai and RSI. Mattia directed the film Ritmo Sbilenco, a documentary on the Italian band Elio e le Storie Tese, and the documentary Uninvited, a biographical film on Marcelo Burlon, fashion designer and outsider DJ. His previous documentary, Il Posto, was selected at Visions du Réel and Hot Docs 2022 and was a finalist at David di Donatello and Nastri d’Argento. Mattia is currently working on the documentary Sconosciuti Puri, co-directed with Valentina Cicogna. As an author and screenwriter, he is working on a crime series produced by The Family, inspired by the books of forensic scientist Cristina Cattaneo.