Hidden Away

Antonio Ligabue, born in Switzerland, moved to Germany and then deported to an Italy he did not know, lives in huts along the Po and in asylums. Nobody looks after him and he paints. Years later those paintings are recognised. Giorgio Diritti directed. Elio Germano plays Ligabue. Ligabue was a real painter and is Italy's best-known naive artist. He was excluded all his life, lived with a speech difficulty and mental illness, and became known for his animals. Germano's performance is the centre. He builds the character by changing his body, his walk and his speech entirely, and won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival in 2020 for it. The film was named best film at the David di Donatello awards in Italy. The narrative keeps away from the biography template: the chronology is loose, the explanation sparse, and the real interest is in how the painter saw the world. Who it is for: viewers who like artist biographies and performance-led films. Who it is not for: anyone wanting an orderly life story; this moves in fragments.