Paternal Leave
Germany/Italy | 2025 | English/German/Italian | 113 min | Drama/Family/Coming of Age | DCP
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?
Credits
| Original Title | Paternal Leave |
| English Title | Paternal Leave |
| Country | Germany, Italy |
| Exhibition Format | DCP |
| Director | Alissa Jung |
| Producer | Cécile Tollu-Polonowski, Viola Fügen, Michael Weber, Sonia Rovai |
| Screenplay | Alissa Jung |
| Cinematography | Carolina Steinbrecher |
| Cast | Luca Marinelli, Juli Grabenhenrich, Arturo Gabbriellini, Joy Falletti Cardillo, Gaia Rinaldi |
Company
The Match Factory
Valentina Bronzini
valentina.bronzini@matchfactory.de
Director
Alissa Jung
German
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.
