Eleonora Duse’s legendary career seems over, but in the ferocious times between the Great War and the rise of fascism, the Divina feels a call stronger than any resignation and returns to where her life began: on stage.
It’s not just the call to acting that drives her, but a profound urgency: the need to reaffirm herself in a world that is inexorably changing and threatens to take everything from her, even the independence she earned with a lifetime of work. Unexpected financial setbacks force her to make a choice, and so, once again, Eleonora chooses the theatre as the only space of truth and resistance.
With her art as her only weapon, she defies time and disenchantment, transforming every word and gesture into a revolutionary act. But the price of beauty against the brutality of power and history is high: her loved ones seem to fade away, and her health deteriorates.
Yet, Eleonora will face her final journey, demonstrating that one can renounce life itself, but never one’s own nature.
DIRECTOR’S NOTES:
Eleonora Duse struck me for the contradictions that marked her existence. Behind the great successes of the Divina lay equally sensational failures, which, in my opinion, are one of the most interesting lines of interpretation. The choice to focus on the last years of her life came naturally. Duse faces her final assessment: with her talent, with her body, with motherhood, with D’Annunzio, with the history of Italy. I didn’t want to make a biopic, but rather to recount the soul of a woman, an artist, in an era of great historical upheaval, with the opportunity to explore themes dear to me: on the one hand, the role of the artist in the face of tragedies such as war, poverty, and pain; on the other, the possible facets of the relationship between art and power.
Festival and awards
EFA – European Film Awards 2026: Nomination per European Actress (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi)
BFI London Film Festival 2025: Create
Busan International Film Festival 2025: Icons
Cinema Made in Italy – Atene 2025
Festival Cinéma Méditerranéen de Bruxelles 2025: Compétition Officielle
Festival do Rio 2025: World Panorama
Festival Dolce Cinema 2025: Avant-première
Festival du Cinéma Italien de Montélimar – Le Teil 2025
Festival du Film Italien de Villerupt 2025: Compétition
Hamburg International Film Festival 2025: Kaleidoscope
Kinomania 2025: Festival del Cinema Italiano
Kolkata International Film Festival 2025: Cinema International
La Biennale di Venezia 2025: Venezia 82 – Premio Francesco Pasinetti Miglior attrice (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), Premio Soundtrack Stars
Les rencontres du cinéma italien à Toulouse 2025: Avant-première
MittelCinemaFest 2025
New York Film Festival 2025: Main Slate
Seminci – Valladolid International Film Festival 2025: Sección Oficial
TIFF – Toronto International Film Festival 2025: Centrepiece
Viennale 2025: Features