Dir.: Emanuele Crialese

Born in Rome in 1965, Emanuele Crialese graduated from the Rome Film Academy and studied at La Sapienza University. He began his professional career working for RAI, the Italian national television network, as a director and screenwriter, and in 1990 made a 90-minute documentary, STORIA DI ANDREA. In 1991 he enrolled in the New York University film school and made two shorts, "Call Me" (1991) and "Heartless" (1992), both of which prizes at festivals in the United States. ONCE WE WERE STRANGERS is his first fiction feature.

ONCE WE WERE STRANGERS (CA)
1996 / 35 mm / Couleur / 96 min.
United States
P4.29.7, P4.30.5, P6.31.3 

Dir.: Emanuele Crialese; Script: Emanuele Crialese Sc�n./Script: Emanuele Crialese; Phot.: Sam Selva; Ed.: Simona Paggi; Cast: Vincenzo Amato, Jessica Whitney Gould, Anjalee Deshpande, Ajay Naidu; Prod.: John P. Scholz, Emanuele Crialese, Backpain Productions Inc., P.O. Box 2517, Times Square Post Office, New York 10108 (�tats-Unis), t�l.: (212) 367-9855, fax: (212) 367-9855; Sales: Acquario Films, 114 East 7th Street Ste 16, New York, NY 10009 (USA), t�l/fax.: (212) 677-0139 and Videa Spa, Via Livigno 50, Rome (Italie), t�l.: (06) 33 18 51, fax: (06) 33 67 79 484 .

Two friends, two immigrants and two versions of the American dream. Apu was sent from India with his family's life savings to become successful, a dream his father has never been able to fulfil. Apu works hard, mainly in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant but also picking up whatever odd job comes his way. He's determined to be a successful American. Italian-born Antonio, on the other hand, is at odds with the world around him. He "escaped" from the constraints of life in the Old World and he has no intention of committing himself to anything constricting in the New World. He wanders from job to job as a chef, lives basically as a squatter and enjoys an carefree fling with Jen, a wealthy art dealer who introduces Antonio to the hip, snobbish New York art scene. Then two women enter the respective lives of the two young men. In Apu's case it's Devi, who had been his promised wife since childhood. Devi has little inkling of what "America" is really like, but when she arrives at the airport with all her belongings she is perfectly ready to get married and settle down in the new land. She's ready to "adapt". But that's easier said than done. There are as many surprises awaiting Devi as there are for her prospective husband. In Antonio's case the new woman is Ellen, host of a radio help hotline. It's love at first sight for Antonio but there's a problem. Now that he's ready to make a commitment, his girlfriend isn't. She's wary and defensive. She doesn't want the responsibility of a relationship and will certainly not bow to the authority of a man. Antonio begins to wonder if it all isn't easier done the way of Apu and Devi...