Hide & Seek (Nascondino)

A crackdown on organised crime threatens the future of a young Italian teen and tears his family apart.

Spanning four years and three generations, Nascondino (Hide & Seek) takes us to Naples where we meet 10-year-old Entoni, a ‘scugnizzo’ or street kid. As he roams freely around the neighbourhood, playing and hanging with the older kids of local gangs, he also imagines a life for himself far away from criminality.

In 2017, Italian judges initiated a plan to forcibly remove the children from families involved in organised crime. Born into a notorious family, Entoni’s behaviour leads to an unlikely accident allowing this circling threat to become a reality.

Meanwhile, his grandmother Dora is determined to keep him on the right track. We learn of her own criminal past and the decisions she has made as head of the family; a past she is now trying to distance herself from.

When Entoni falls victim to circumstance, he must come to terms with the reality of his impending removal. As the day draws ever closer, he turns to religion for support, and we witness the relationship with his family deteriorate as the pressure of separation reveals its emotional toll.

Alongside this we see Dora, haunted by past horrors, withdraw from daily life and into faith, memory, and superstition. She has seen her children and their generation killed or imprisoned, and although they are beyond saving, she hopes it is not too late for Entoni’s generation.

As Entoni makes multiple attempts to escape state care and return home, the film ultimately asks: will he be able to grow beyond the constraints of his upbringing or is he doomed to repeat the cycle?

Nascondino (Hide & Seek) is Fiore’s debut feature and was nominated for the CPH:DOX Award.