SYNOPSIS
Alone and looking for answers, a teenager travels to the North Italian coast to meet her biological father. Their first encounter is tense – fraught with questions, longing and unresolved anger. Can they work towards finding acceptance, love and honesty?
DIRECTOR’S
BIOGRAPHY
Alissa Jung discovered her passion for storytelling as a child, participating in radio plays and acting in theatre. At the age of 16, she was discovered while acting in a theatre play and has since built a successful acting career. In her mid-20s, she began directing short films, documentaries, and youth theatre plays.
After taking time to complete her medical degree and work as a paediatrician, she returned to the film industry in 2020, earning a degree in screenwriting from the Drehbuchwerkstatt Munich. In 2022 and 2023, she directed the short films The Wall Must Fall and Farah, the latter of which won the 2024 Goldener Spatz Award, awarded by the Festival des deutschen Films für Kinder (German Children's Film Festival). Paternal Leave marks her feature film directorial debut.
© Photography: Mirjam Knickriem
COMMENTS OF
THE DIRECTOR
Few people have the power to shake or hurt you as deeply as your parents—with little things, with a single sentence. Yet few can also provide as much stability in your life. This dichotomy fascinated me. In Paternal Leave, I explore a very specific father-daughter relationship: two complete strangers, yet connected—genetically, through social expectations, and through a shared longing.
In this intimate drama set on a beach, where the story of the daughter and father’s encounter unfolds over just three days, it was important to me not to judge, but to observe and empathise. The stark solitude of a deserted winter coastline in Italy felt like the perfect setting to tell the story of Leo and Paolo’s encounter. On one hand, the ruggedness and stubbornness of this coast mirrors the two main characters. On the other, the German-Italian background of the story allowed me to linguistically distance daughter and father, creating boundaries in communication and making their alienation even more palpable.
I am moved by the dilemma that grows and festers from a past decision. I am touched by the hope for love, and I feel the pain of attempts to make amends—only to complicate things further through repression and avoidance. Paternal Leave is a film about stumbling as a human being, about love, about family. But above all, it is a film about being honest with ourselves—about finding the courage to look at who we really are.
MAIN CAST
BIOGRAPHY
Juli Grabenhenrich
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Juli Grabenhenrich was born in 2008 in Berlin where she grew up with her four siblings. In 2023, she responded to a casting call for the role of Leo and succeeded in landing her first film role. In Paternal Leave, she makes her on-screen debut, showcasing her talent as a young actress.
Luca Marinelli
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Luca Marinelli, born in Rome in 1984, graduated from the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2009. He began his theatrical career with A Midsummer Night's Dream, which led to his being chosen as a co-star in the film La solitudine dei numeri primi (2010), directed by Saverio Costanzo. In the following years, he acted in several films, including L’ultimo terrestre(2011), Tutti i santi giorni(2012), which earned him his first nomination for a David di Donatello, and La Grande Bellezza (2013) by Paolo Sorrentino. In 2013, he received the Shooting Star Award at the Berlin Film Festival and, in 2014, he won the David di Donatello for best supporting actor for Lo chiamavamo Jeeg Robot and his career continued with A dangerous fortune, a TV film for the German market directed by Christian Schwochow. Continuing with relevant roles, in 2015 he starred in Non essere cattivo, for which he received his second nomination for the David di Donatello, and in 2016 he won the Golden Globe for best actor for Una questione privata by the Taviani brothers.
In 2018, he starred in the film Ricordi and in the miniseries Fabrizio De Andrè – Principe libero, for which he received another David di Donatello nomination. He also began working internationally, participating in Danny Boyle's series Trust and the film The Old Guard (2020), alongside Charlize Theron. In 2019, he played the protagonist Martin Eden, for which he won the Coppa Volpi for best actor at the Venice Film Festival and received an EFA nomination. In 2020, he was a juror at the Berlinale and, in 2021. In 2022, he co-starred with Alessandro Borghi in Le otto montagne, a film that was presented at the Cannes Film Festival. In the same year he returned to the role of Nicky in The old guard 2. In 2023, he starred in the tv series M – Il figlio del secolo directed by Joe Wright, and directed the theatrical adaptation Una relazioni per un'accademia at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto. In 2024, he is in the cast of Paternal Leave, directed by Alissa Jung.
Also in 2024, he lends his voice to the role of Mufasa in Disney's live-action Mufasa - The Lion King.
MAIN
CAST
Juli Grabenhenrich
as Leo
Luca Marinelli
as Paolo
Arturo Gabbriellini
as Edoardo
Joy Falletti Cardillo
as Emilia
Gaia Rinaldi
as Valeria
MAIN
CREW
Written and directed: Alissa Jung
Cinematography: Carolina Steinbrecher
Editing: Heike Parplies, David Maria Vogel
Sound Design: Jörg Theil
Production Design: Cristina Bartoletti
Re-Recording Mixer: Michael Kaczmarek
Costume, Make Up, Hair Supervision:
Daniela Tartari
Producers: Cécile Tollu-Polonowski,
Viola Fügen, Michael Weber, Sonia Rovai
TECHNICAL
DETAILS
Original title: Paternal Leave
International title: Paternal Leave
Duration: 113 min
Aspect Ratio: 2:1
Format: DCP
Sound: 5.1
Year: 2025
Original language: English, German, Italian
Countries of production: Germany, Italy
Production Companies: The Match Factory, Wildside
With the support of: Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, German Federal Film Fund, German Federal Film Board, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung GmbH, Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film, MIC - fondo per lo sviluppo degli investimenti nel cinema e nell'audiovisivo, Regione Emilia-Romagna, Rai Cinema
INTERNATIONAL
PRESS
Christelle + Co PR
Nicole Warren:
nicole@christelleandcopr.com
Charlotte Segal:
charlotte@christelleandcopr.com
German PR:
Nicole Kühner: hallo@kulturmeisterei.com
Italian PR:
Valerio Roselli: valerio@prmovie.it
Carly Craig: carly@prmovie.it