Hide and Seek

A vivid and empathetic inside look at one of Naples’ toughest neighbourhoods, where one boy finds his dreams threatened by a dark legacy.

Entoni runs wild on the rough-and-tumble streets of Naples’ infamous Spanish quarter. He yearns for a better life despite the brutality and chaos around him, not to mention his family’s history of delinquency – his father is in prison, and his chain-smoking grandmother, Dora, has barely emerged unscathed from her own shady past. Dora worries whether Entoni can escape the cycle of criminality that he’s inherited.

Nominated for BFI London’s 2021 Grierson Award and screening in competition at this year’s CPH:DOX, Victoria Fiore’s debut feature is a lively collaboration with her subject and the community to which she was allowed extraordinary access. Shot over four years in the wake of new legislation permitting the removal of children from families with links to organised crime, what unfolds is a raw and energetic portrait of Entoni and this particularly troubled corner of Italy. Hide and Seek is impassioned but never didactic in its exploration of the social, economic and political forces encroaching on Entoni’s future, and yet within its frames are glints of the possibility of hope.

“A stunning film, self-contained and self-fulfilling … Captures both the wild freedom of the city playground for kids like Entoni, and the looming inevitability of his future.” – Screen Daily