The White Club (working title)
Date:
January 9, 2023
The White Club (working title)
The White Club (working title)
by Michele Pennetta
Beauvoir | Switzerland
Indyca srl | Italy
Nefertiti | Italy
Vertigo | Slovenia
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Logline
Trapped in a hidden nightclub and forced into prostitution, Nina fights to escape and find her sister, captured when they illegally crossed the border. A dark tale about lost power and the desperate quest to reclaim it—at any cost.
Synopsis
In search of a better future, Nina flees home with her younger sister. But at the border, Leijla is kidnapped by a group of paramilitaries. Nina wakes up in the White Club, a strange club hidden away in an old racecourse. The nightclub is run by a manipulative woman, Ofelia, assisted by her son, Mirko.
Thrust into the world of luxury prostitution, Nina keeps thinking and searching for Leijla. While she forges new alliances at the club and gets closer to Ofelia, Mirko goes in the opposite direction. After years of blind submission to his mother, he is torn between his loyalty to her and Leijla’s fate. When Sara, his secret lover, mysteriously disappears, Mirko is left with only one option: to rush onwards.
THE WHITE CLUB is a parable about the state of the world, exposing its subterranean forces and the illusions that inhabit it. Through the journeys of Nina and Mirko, the film explores the loss of power and the desperate quest to regain it, by any means possible.
Director’s Profile
Born in Varese (Italy) in 1984, Michele Pennetta graduated from the University of Art and Design of Geneva (HEAD) and the Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne (ECAL) in 2010 with a Master’s degree in directing. His diploma film I CANI ABBAIANO was selected for several festivals. In 2013, he started working with Joelle Bertossa’s Close Up Films and directed the medium-length film ‘A IUCATA’, which won the Pardino d’Oro in Locarno and was also nominated for best Swiss short film. The film went on to numerous international festivals, winning Best Film at the Festival dei Popoli in Florence. His interest in his country and in current affairs led him to write and direct his first feature film, PESCATORI DI CORPI, in international competition at the 69th Locarno Film Festival (2016). His recent feature film MY BODY WAS selected in international competition at Vision du Réel and ACID at Cannes 2020. In 2023, he made LONELY, an Italian-Swiss co-production presented at the Zurich Film Festival and Alice nella Città, among others.
Company Profile
INDYCA – Indyca is a production company established in 2007 in Turin, Italy, specializing in producing both groundbreaking documentaries and art-house films with strong international appeal. Over the years, Indyca has gained a solid reputation as a co-producer of international films, partnering with countries around the world and securing prestigious support from organizations such as Eurimages, Ibermedia, and Creative Europe MEDIA, as well as other national and international funds.
The company’s recent productions—We Are the Thousand, Happy Winter, Becoming Zlatan, Drive Me Home, and smoKings—have been released in over 40 countries. In 2024, we premiered The Secret Drawer at Berlinale, Samia at Tribeca, Alice nella città, and Honeydew as an Italian premiere at Festival Dei Popoli, among others.
Always seeking international collaborators and new expressions of the human spirit, Indyca is deeply invested in the artistic landscape of Europe and the world beyond.
BEAUVOIR FILMS – Beauvoir Films produces documentary and fiction features for festivals, theatrical releases, and TV. We collaborate with directors who have a distinct visual and narrative style, pushing the boundaries of storytelling in creative ways.
THE GIRL AND THE SPIDER by Ramon & Silvan Zürcher won two prizes at Berlinale 2021. LE THÉORÈME DE MARGUERITE by Anna Novion was in official selection at Cannes, and RIVIÈRE by Hugues Hariche screened at Locarno 2023. In 2024, MY SWISS ARMY by Luka Popadić won the Audience Award at Solothurn, THE LANDSCAPE AND THE FURY by Nicole Vögele received the Grand Prix at Visions du Réel and the Doc Alliance Award. SPHERES by Daniel Zimmermann premiered at Karlovy Vary.