Masbedo's Second Feature Film 'Arsa' Hits Theaters After Rome Film Fest Premiere

The artistic duo Masbedo—Nicolò Massanza and Iacopo Bedogni—have released their second feature film, 'Arsa,' in Italian cinemas following its premiere at the 19th Rome Film Festival. The film bridges their dual backgrounds in art and cinema, telling the story of a young girl named Arsa (Gala Zohar Martinucci) who lives on the island of Stromboli, mourning her father (Lino Musella, born 1980), an artist forced by a cynical employer (Tommaso Ragno, born 1967) to create fake beautiful statues for consumerism. Arsa inherits her father's gaze, creating small sculptures from archeoplastic debris she collects on the coast. Her world is disrupted by the arrival of Andrea (Jacopo Olmo Antinori, born 1997). The film explores themes of interior journey, memory, desire, and the porous boundaries between reality and dream, past and present. Masbedo describes Arsa as a liminal creature suspended between childhood and maturity, nature and culture, solitude and desire—an alchemist of wreckage who transforms discarded materials. The duo also launched a video podcast titled 'Tabula arsa,' recorded in their nomadic creative space (the videomobile), featuring writers, poets, actors, and thinkers discussing the film's themes. The podcast serves as an ideal continuation of the film, expanding its content and amplifying its voices.