Documentary film DOM competes for prestigious Italian film award

(Patria) - The documentary film DOM, an Italian-Bosnian co-production directed by Massimiliano Battistella, has been nominated for the prestigious Italian film award Nastri d’Argento (Silver Ribbons) in the documentary film category.

The Nastri d’Argento award is one of the most significant and oldest film awards in Italy. It was founded in 1946 by the Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani (National Union of Italian Film Journalists, SNGCI), making it the oldest film award in Italy.

Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it is awarded by film critics and journalists, not by an academy or industry institutions. Thus, Nastri d’Argento reflects the opinion and judgment of professional critics, often emphasizing the artistic value, originality, and quality of films over commercial success. Its recipients are often among the most respected names in Italian cinema, from the classics of neorealism (such as Roberto Rossellini, who received the first award for best film in 1946 for Rome, Open City) to contemporary authors.

The film DOM follows the intimate and poignant story of Mirela, a forty-year-old Bosnian woman who, as a ten-year-old girl in 1992, was evacuated from besieged Sarajevo along with other children from the Bjelave orphanage. Today, as an adult woman living in Italy with her family, Mirela returns to Sarajevo to confront her past, reconstruct childhood memories, and raise questions about abandonment, displacement, and belonging. Through rare archival footage, personal materials, and testimonies, the film intertwines personal and collective history, offering a powerful story of identity shaped by wartime experience.

DOM premiered in the Giornate degli Autori program as part of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in 2025, where it received extremely positive reactions from critics and audiences. It had its pre-premiere screening at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival and continued its festival journey at numerous international events, including DOK Leipzig, where it was nominated for the MDR Film Prize.

The film was produced by Riccardo Biadene for Kama Productions from Rome, and co-produced by Ivana Cvetković Bajrović (Method) and Nihad Kreševljaković (MESS) from Sarajevo.

The awards ceremony will be held tonight, March 2, at Cinema Barberini in Rome.