Sorrentino backs Ferrari debut Föa at Busan
Paolo Sorrentino has taken his first credit as a producer on Föa – Once Upon a Future, the debut feature from Italian director Margherita Ferrari that played at the 30th Busan International Film Festival, Variety reported on 9 October 2026.
It is a double debut. Ferrari arrives with her first feature. Sorrentino arrives with his first producing credit after a long career as a writer and director.
Busan lists the film in its Flash Forward selection, a sidebar for first and second features. The festival programme describes it as an Italian film from 2025 with a runtime of 86 minutes, BIFF. Coverage around the festival records its premiere in Busan.
The story is set in Genoa during the July 2001 G8 summit clashes between protesters and police. It follows Nicole, who is 18 and eight months pregnant and takes three protesters into her home. In Genoese, Föa means story in the sense of a made-up tale or fable.
The cast is young. Gaia Ravina leads as Nicole, with Clara Tramontano, Iker Urgoiti and Gabriele Falsetta in support. The four carry a chamber piece built around one flat, one pregnancy and three strangers.
The feature grew from a short. Ferrari first made Föa as her graduation film at Rome's Centro Sperimentale film school, then pitched an expanded version to Sorrentino. The festival notes that she was found through his emerging filmmakers project and is the first woman filmmaker chosen by his company Numero 10.
Numero 10 co-produced the feature with The Apartment and PiperFilm. Festival credits also name Raffaele Perillo as producer. PiperPlay is handling international sales, the licensing of distribution rights country by country for cinemas and platforms outside Italy.
Ferrari took part in the festival conversation around new directors. She was scheduled to appear on a Busan panel with May el-Toukhy, Jacqueline Lentzou and Marjan Khosravi, BIFF. A review of the film was published by Cineuropa on 8 October 2026.
What makes this stand out for festival watchers is the chain. A school short becomes a feature pitch. A pitch becomes a first production for an established director's company. A local Genoese word becomes an international title at Busan.
