“We see Goliarda Sapienza with her literary creature”: Mario Martone on Fuori at Cannes Film Festival 2025

Fuori, the latest from Mario Martone, is a restrained, atmospheric study of disillusionment and quiet persistence. Loosely based on the life of Goliarda Sapienza, the film begins after her brief imprisonment in 1980, where she is cast out from Rome’s literary circles. Rather than dramatise her downfall, Martone focuses on the rhythms of her life post-incarceration – her encounters with younger women, her hesitant connection with the volatile Roberta (Matilda De Angelis), and the strange intimacy that lingers between them. 

Ahead of the film’s premiere in the main competition at Cannes, Martone spoke with The Upcoming about collaborating with longtime friend and lead actress Valeria Golino, drawing on his own youth to reconstruct the atmosphere of Rome in 1980, and the nuanced, less-explored perspective on the female prison experience he sought to bring to the screen.

Christina Yang

Fuori does not have a release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Cannes Film Festival coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Cannes Film Festival website here.

Watch the trailer for Fuori here: