Short film in competition

Puca

Directed by Sara Scalera
Italy 2026
Runtime 14'

An early summer afternoon in the 1990s. While their parents are taking a nap, sisters Lotti and Malibù (using the nicknames they have given each other) sneak off in secret to go to a bar, hoping to meet the boy they both fancy. Their youngest sister Puca insists on going with them, threatening to wake their parents with her screams if they leave her behind. The three sisters set off together, and as they pass the beach, Puca walks closer to the water’s edge and swears she has seen a mermaid. At the bar, Lotti and Malibù are swept away by their teenage drama and end up losing sight of Puca. Thus begins a search that will bring the two sisters toward a final confrontation, followed by a glimpse of the mermaid disappearing into the water. With that image, they realise their childhood is gone forever. Then, the unexpected happens when they return home to tell their parents…

Directed by
Sara Scalera

Screenplay
Sara Scalera, Antonio Romagnoli

Cinematography
Andrea Benjamin Manenti

Editing
Livia Galtieri

Music 
Bebawinigi, Los Locos

Sound
Martina Scarpellini, Federico Tummolo

Cast
Annunziata Celeste Vadicamo, Elisa Rosaci, Ludovica Tassoni, Giuseppe Musarella, Antonio Serranò, Emilia Mariana Buza, Tonino Proietto, Beatrice Stranges

Production Design
Stefano Mendeni

Costumes
Aida Ghafouri

Production
Andrea Cicini, Cristina Borsatti (Gm Production), Stefano Chiavarini, Lorenzo Pallotta, Alfredo Chiarappa, Caterina Clerici (Limbo Film), Leonardo Kurtz Trimeloni, Dario Laudati (Hubris Pictures), Paolo Santamaria, Nicola Nocella, Gabriele Nardis, Luigi Cuomo (Red Couch Pictures), Enrico Fracca (Eidos Film)

Italian Distributor
Allegorie Distribution

SIC@SIC 2026 -

Sara Scalera (1988) had her debut in cinema in 2019 with her short film In braccio alla corrente. She founded the short film festival Apulia Film Fest in her hometown. In 2022, she directed La piccola estate which was selected at several festivals, both Italian and international: it won the Best Mediterranean Short Film award at the Alicante Film Festival and the Rai Cinema Channel Award at the Lecce European Film Festival. The following year, she co-produced the short film Las memorias perdidas de los árboles by Antonio La Camera, which won the award for Best Short Film at the 37. SIC in Venice. In 2024, she was selected for the Milano Film Network’s InProgress feature film section and developed the screenplay for her first feature-length film, Dove vanno le mosche quando piove.