Italian Film About a Boy's Grief Premieres at Sharjah Festival

Italian director Fabrizio Cattani's Forever With You had its Green Carpet premiere at the 13th Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Youth in the United Arab Emirates. Variety reports that it was the first time the film had been shown in the Middle East.

The film follows Filo, a young boy struggling to understand the death of his mother. It is set in 1998 and told through flashbacks. Cattani adapted it from an Italian novel of the same name, and he shot it in autumn in Calabria, the southern Italian region.

Cattani's earlier films focused on harder subjects for adult audiences. Forever With You marks his turn toward younger viewers, according to the same report. Before Sharjah, he took the film to the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.

Italy was the Country of Honor at this year's festival, a spotlight that highlights one country's films across the programme. The festival ran from October 26 to October 31, 2026. Its Italian program included the film's screening on October 30.

Festivals like Sharjah give new films a first audience and a chance to meet buyers and distributors. Whether Forever With You finds screens beyond the festival circuit has not been announced.