Iris

Running time: N/A

The beauty of childhood and innocence are common themes in cinema, but rarely does a character evoke the purest of intentions and emotional simplicity. Seven-year-old Maria (depicted by Arancia Cecilia Grimaldi) is that precious find. Maria lives on the picturesque Italian island of Ustica. Realizing she doesn't have a present for her mother when her two brothers come home with a bouquet of wild flowers, Maria sets out alone to the market to buy irises for her mother. There is only one problem when she arrives at the market; Maria has only enough money for one iris. Deciding to journey to the lighthouse at the other end of Ustica to get money from her father, Maria encounters a variety of people, most meaning well, but one meaning her harm. To complicate the situation, one of her brothers goes on his own search to find Maria. In her quest to buy her mother irises--and nothing but irises--we join the quest of this determined little girlæwho plainly states, "I am not going home without the flowers." In addition, director Aurelio Grimaldi gives a wonderous tour of a little known idyllic island, far removed from the world of nearby Palermo. Will Maria overcome the odds and come home with the irises? You may be as surprised as Maria and her whole family. --Sandy Wolf