Tutù

The death of a young dancer has ripple effects on those close to her in director Lorenzo Tiberia’s short film, Tutù.

A small town in Southern Italy is mourning a young girl, Sara (Francesca Morena Mileti), who danced in the town’s performance school and passed away suddenly without warning. As a memorial to the school, Sara’s mother donated her favorite tutu to be displayed prominently in a glass case.

Ester (Sofia D’Elia) was Sara’s best friend, and ever since her death, she dreamed of dancing in Sara’s beautiful tutu one day. But to do that, she realizes she needs to lose weight to fit into the dress, which means skipping meals, logging kilos, and working out vigorously. All things Sara did before she passed. But, knowing that her friends and family would disapprove, Ester keeps her dream a secret.

“…she needs to lose weight to fit into the dress, which means skipping meals, logging kilos, and working out vigorously.”

Throughout Tutù, screenwriters Alberto Fumagalli and Giovanni Mauriello spotlight the issue of anorexia and other eating disorders of its kind. Ester’s story shows that many share this problem, yet each victim struggles alone. For Sara, she fell to the physical toll of anorexia only to have it passed on to her dear friend.

There’s so much that Tiberia brings to his short film. First, Tiberia brings a professional and cinematic look and feel to his fifteen-minute tale. He then incorporates the themes of beauty, perfection, and obsession in the screenplay and focuses them through the haunting performance of Sofia D’Elia. She believably walks us down that slow path of self-destruction.

Tutù is a cautionary tale for any youngster and teen who has a single moment of self-doubt that they are not perfect. Hint: nobody is perfect, and the pursuit of perfection is deadly.