Well-regarded Italian filmmaker Margherita (the always brilliant Margherita Buy), is directing a big-budget film on location in Rome starring famous American actor Barry Huggins (played by John Turturro in another wholly original performance). But the actor’s bizarre behavior on the set causes major headaches and soon threatens a production meltdown. Margherita struggles to hold the film together, while away from the shoot, she is dealing with her mother’s terminal illness and her daughter’s adolescent rebelliousness.

Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre is possibly his most personal film, and a master class on autobiographical cinema. Although Moretti appears in a supporting role as Margherita’s brother, the character of Margherita herself is Moretti’s alter-ego. As in Moretti’s masterpiece The Son’s Room, every conflict revolves around his own fears, uncertainties and despairs, as if he’d incessantly asked himself whether he’d be able to match the commitment he brings to his professional life, with his family duties. Moretti’s legendary skill at creating powerful universal drama out of our most individual insecurities makes Mia Madre a rare gift. – Orlando Rojas