Toni, the son of an emigrant Italian mother, deported back to Italy from Switzerland where he spent his childhood, lived for years in a shack by the river without ever succumbing to loneliness, the cold or hunger. Meeting the sculptor Renato Marino Mazzacurati was his chance to return to painting, the beginning of a redemption story in which he feels art is the only way to form his identity, a real opportunity to make his name known and loved by the world. “El Tudesc,” as people called him, was a lonely, scrawny, ugly and often mocked and humiliated man. He became an imaginative artist who painted a fantasy world of tigers, gorillas and jaguars on the banks of the Po. Ligabue’s art is a “fairy tale” from which a wealth of diversity emerges and his work over time has proved to be a gift to collective humanity.

Festivals & Awards:

David di Donatello 2021: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Elio Germano), Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Make-Up (Aldo Signoretti), Best Sound (Carlo Missidenti, Filippo Toso, Luca Leprotti, Marco Biscarini, Francesco Tumminello)

Berlinale 2020: In Competition, Silver Bear for Best Actor (Elio Germano);

Annecy Cinema Italien 2020: Prima Cinemed;

Festival Cinema Mediterranéen; Montpellier 2020: Avant-Premières;

Festival du Film Italien; de Villerupt 2020: Official Selection;

Globi d’ Oro 2020: Best Film, Best Cinematography;

Italian Film Festival Berlin 2020: In Competition;

Moscow International Film Festival 2020: Euphoria of Delusions.