Gian Paolo Cugno’s debut feature has been charming audiences across Europe over the past year. A heartwarmer with a stellar cast, it tells the tale of a young Sicilian orphan determined to accept the responsibility and care for his family.
Alessandro Mallia stars as Salvatore, the plucky youngster who decides to leave school and find work so he can support his little sister and his grandmother. Enrico Lo Verso is Mario Brioni, a dedicated teacher who refuses to give up on the boy and visits every day after work to allow Salvatore to continue with his education. The boy’s greatest struggle comes when a well-meaning social worker decides that he would be better off in an orphanage.
Notable as the first Disney feature produced in Italy, SALVATORE is set in the director’s home town of Pachino and builds into the kind of emotional crowd-pleaser that only the hardest of hearts will be able to resist.