Hidden Away (2020 film)

Hidden Away () is a 2020 Italian biographical drama film co-written, directed and co-edited by . It stars Elio Germano as Italian painter Antonio Ligabue, who lived a notoriously reclusive life, troubled with physical problems and mental illness.
It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. At Berlin, Elio Germano won the Silver Bear for Best Actor.
Plot.
The story of the painter Antonio Ligabue, with flashbacks showing glimpses of his childhood and his Swiss-Italian origins. Little Antonio is entrusted to adoptive parents and immediately begins to have psychophysical disorders, ill with rickets, and after being expelled from school and attacking his mother, he is hospitalized several times in an asylum.
But at the same time, Antonio finds comfort in painting and sculpture, often depicting exotic animals, such as lions, horses, gorillas, tigers, which he unites with the Emilian landscape, as Antonio will move to Gualtieri in Emilia, where he is derogatively called "El Tudesc" (The German).
However, Ligabue is soon discovered by the critic Renato Marino Mazzacurati, who encourages him to continue with his works, and to participate in art exhibitions and conferences in the province, until Ligabue is slowly discovered and appreciated by critics, although branded by certain academics as a naïve artist.
Release.
The film premiered in competition at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival on 21 February 2020. The film was scheduled to be released in Italy on 27 February 2020, by 01 Distribution, but it was indefinitely postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Reception.
The film received critical acclaim at the Berlin Film Festival. "The Upcoming" gave it five stars out of five.