Dear Diary

It can happen to anyone—an irresistible urge to begin writing a diary. We transfer the thoughts in our heads onto paper and watch them unfold. Thanks to this, the chaos of images, reflections, and memories begins to organize itself and becomes clearer, inspiring us to embark on our own private journey. The auteur cinema of Nanni Moretti, director and protagonist of nearly all his films, is an extended personal diary that, for decades, has dialogued, provoked, questioned, and sought understanding. The scenes of travel in Dear Diary, on a scooter through Rome or along the beach in Ostia, have entered the history of contemporary Italian cinema. They also represent a particular attitude toward the world: observing, listening, and asking questions rather than judging. In the film’s three chapters—On my Vespa, Islands, Doctors—Moretti speaks, comments, sings, criticizes, ironizes, reflects, and listens. He wants to be among others. He is curious about others, even when he appears distant or irritable. It is also a lesson for us: to care for ourselves, we must also care for the world and for others.

Stanisław Bardadin

Nanni Moretti (b. 1953) – Italian director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, and one of the most important contemporary auteurs of Italian cinema. His films are marked by irony, intellectual distance, and a deeply personal narrative voice; Moretti often creates an on-screen alter ego who comments on social and political reality. In his work, Italy emerges as a landscape of contradictions, tensions, and imperfections. An award-winning filmmaker – including the Palme d’Or for The Son’s Room (2001) – Moretti has remained consistently independent throughout his career.

section partner

section partner