Dir: Ramin Niami | Drama 2026
Anthony, an Italian-American writer, retreats to the medieval Umbrian town of Narni after his younger Ukrainian wife, Lara, walks out on him. His drinking and creative frustrations have taken their toll, but when Lara unexpectedly returns, he sees a chance to repair the damage. Is this a genuine new beginning, however, or simply another attempt to rewrite a past that refuses to stay buried?
Iranian-born Ramin Niami gives this intimate relationship drama a visual personality all its own. Filmed on an iPhone, Fade Away has a close, sometimes restless quality, as though the camera is trying to get inside Anthony’s troubled head. Narni’s narrow lanes, weathered walls and shadowy interiors provide a wonderfully tactile setting, their ancient surfaces contrasting with the emotional messiness of the couple’s modern predicament.
Rather than smoothing everything into conventional romantic drama, Niami allows the narrative to wander into uncertain territory. Moments of tenderness sit uneasily alongside frustration and doubt, while the shifting visual perspective keeps us questioning what we are seeing and how much of it belongs to Anthony’s imagination. Nicolas Porcelli and Anastasia Bay bring an appealing rawness to the central relationship, which feels less like a grand love story than a difficult negotiation between two people who may want different things from the same past.
The film’s modest, independent spirit is part of its appeal. Niami embraces the freedom of a small-scale production, using location, performance and visual experimentation to explore the uneasy business of starting again. In Fade Away, the past is never quite past, and the prospect of a happy ending remains tantalisingly out of reach.
PREMIERING AT MATERA FILM FESTIVAL ITALY 2026