Fortuna: Nicolangelo Gelormini's dark fairy tale premieres at Rome Film Fest

Nicolangelo Gelormini's film 'Fortuna' premiered at the 15th Rome Film Festival, starring Valeria Golino and Pina Turco. The film is inspired by the real-life murder of six-year-old Fortuna Loffredo in 2014, whose body showed signs of repeated abuse. Gelormini transforms the crime story into a dark fairy tale, deliberately disorienting viewers through precise framing and sound design. He chose fiction to avoid direct representation, using off-screen space and poetic imagery to convey horror. The film is structured in two acts, with Golino and Turco playing psychologists and mothers whose characters mirror each other. The narrative oscillates between a child's imagined world of princesses and a grim reality inhabited by monstrous adults. Critics note echoes of Dario Argento's 'Non ho sonno' in its use of a haunting nursery rhyme and meticulous attention to detail. Gelormini aims to betray audience expectations, leading them one way before shocking them. The film explores themes of betrayed innocence and the failure of adults to protect children.