A Near Thing

Loris G. Nese
Italy | 2025 | 85’

In the 1990s, a boy grows up surrounded by deep secrets. The men in his family, including his father, are dying too young, but he still can’t understand why. When he discovers that his last name carries a stigma in the city, he feels as if he’s seeing his life in the gangster films he loves, a mirror of the violence that changed his life. It is precisely through cinema that, now an adult, he begins to question his past and rebuild his identity.

Original Title: Una cosa vicina
Director: Loris G. Nese
Animation: Loris G. Nese
Editing: Chiara Marotta
Cinematography: Chiara Marotta
Music: Raffaele Caputo
Producer: Chiara Marotta
Production: Lapazio Film

Loris G. Nese

Loris G. Nese is a director, screenwriter, animator, cinematographer, and co-founder of the production company Lapazio Film. A graduate of Film Studies in Bologna, he creates hybrid stories that blend fiction, animation, and documentary. All his short films have received international recognition: in 2018, Quelle brutte cose won an award at the Venice Film Critics’ Week and was selected for Sundance. Two years later, Malumore won an award at Turin, DOK Leipzig, and was selected at Annecy and Atlanta, among others. In 2021, Il turno premiered at Orizzonti in Venice. That same year, he worked on the photography and animation for Chiara Marotta’s feature film Il momento di passaggio, which premiered at IDFA. In 2023, Z.O. won an award at Locarno and was in competition in Rome. A Near Thing was selected for the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in the Giornate degli Autori section. He is currently developing a film selected by the Torino Film Lab and Biennale College.