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Reaping upbeat initial reviews, Italian film “Idda” had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of the TIFF Platform competition, whose non-English language winner, starting this year, will be directly eligible for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
Directed by Irene Dionisio (“Pawn Street,” “Shores”) and starring Tecla Insolia (“Familia,” “The Art of Joy”) and Romana Maggiora Vergano (“There’s Still Tomorrow,” “Portobello”), “Idda” is a portrait of two childhood friends who decide to climb Mount Etna, an active volcano on the Eastern Coast of Sicily.
Carefree Sofia and the more restrained Adele couldn’t be more different, but they share an unbreakable bond that is tested when confronted with bottled-up resentment, past secrets and the fear of change as they make their way up the treacherous volcano.
“Idda” was produced by Kino Produzioni, EDI Effetti Digitali Italiani, Andromeda Film and Wise Pictures. Rai Cinema International Distribution is handling international sales for the film.
Variety had the opportunity to interview director Irene Dionisio about the film.
What does Mount Etna represent in the film?
Irene Dionisio: In Sicilian dialect, “idda” means “she,” and it is also how people refer to Mount Etna: the she-volcano. I was drawn to the idea of Etna as a force capable of giving life and death simultaneously—something maternal, but also dangerous and unknowable.
The mountain becomes a mirror of Adele and Sofia’s inner disturbances. As they climb, the landscape changes from the slopes descending toward the sea, where nature meets civilization, to the wilder and more mysterious summit. Their ascent is both physical and emotional: they are searching for answers about memory, friendship, desire, adulthood, and the choices that have separated them.
The volcano also carries the idea of ancestral breath. Adele and Sofia have imagined since childhood that they would reach the crater together and listen to Etna breathe. That dream becomes a way of confronting everything they have left unspoken.
Why did you decide to tell this story for your sophomore feature?
Dionisio: I wanted to make a film about female friendship, grief, memory, and the difficult transitions that take place when we move from one stage of life into another. “Idda” is dedicated to my best friend, who died suddenly several years ago. I later learned that, at the time of her death, she had been thinking about motherhood. That knowledge made the loss even more painful, because I had not known what she was experiencing and could not be close to her then. I was also approaching motherhood myself, and that made me reflect on the fears, wonders, and ambiguities surrounding such a profound change.
Adele and Sofia are women in their thirties, and their lives reflect experiences that many people of their generation may recognize: postponing decisions, leaving home or returning to it, feeling divided between freedom and belonging, and wondering whether one has followed the life one once imagined.
Tecla Insolia and Romana Maggiora Vergano are said to be two of Italy’s most exciting rising actresses.
Dionisio: Tecla Insolia and Romana Maggiora Vergano brought extraordinary qualities to Adele and Sofia. Tecla gave Adele a charisma and depth that felt both ancient and luminous, while Romana embraced Sofia’s contradictions and pain with great generosity.
They were not simply asked to reproduce characters that already existed on the page; their sensibilities profoundly shaped Adele and Sofia. Our work began with reading the script and continued through rehearsals, which became a space to adjust, rewrite, and discover scenes together. Their trust, friendship, and freedom to experiment became part of the emotional fabric of “Idda.”
Tell me about the volcano images you used in the film.
Dionisio: Not all of the erupting-volcano images seen in the film were filmed during the 2026 eruption. I worked extensively on archival research, exploring approximately ten historical archives in Italy. Some of the materials we used come from the Home Movies archive in Bologna, together with other historical collections.
The 2026 eruption was particularly interesting precisely because it was an exceptional event. Etna is an active volcano, but eruptions of that scale and with those specific characteristics do not occur every year. In fact, it had been about 10 years since the volcano had displayed activity quite like this. For that reason, the recent eruption created a fascinating dialogue with the film, even though the archival images had been collected and selected well before it happened.
Can you tell me about Saint Agatha, the patron saint of Catania?
Dionisio: Saint Agatha is central to Catania’s cultural and spiritual life, and the film opens during her traditional festival. Adele is photographing the procession when she and Sofia reunite.
The connection between Saint Agatha and Etna is especially evocative because Catania lives in the presence of a volcano. Saint Agatha’s story, the procession, and the rituals surrounding her create a dialogue between faith, communal memory, protection, and the ever-present force of nature. I would be cautious, however, about reducing her meaning to a simple protective function. In the film, the festival is less an explanation of Etna than an atmosphere—a living expression of Catania and its relationship with danger, devotion, history, and renewal.
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