Director: Carlo Sironi
A single Sicilian summer becomes the backdrop for an unlikely friendship in My Summer with Irene, a quiet coming-of-age drama set in Italy in 1997.
What is My Summer with Irene about?
Seventeen-year-old Clara, played by Noée Abita, meets Irene, played by Maria Camilla Brandenburg, and the two form a bond that neither of them quite expects given how different their lives have been up to that point. Looking to step away from circumstances they'd rather leave behind, they travel together to an island off Sicily, where the summer stretches out with a kind of freedom that feels temporary from the start. Director Carlo Sironi keeps the camera close to the two young women, favoring small gestures and unhurried scenes over dramatic incident, and the island itself becomes almost a third character, all heat, water, and long afternoons. The film resists tidy resolution, choosing instead to sit inside a specific, fragile stretch of time before the girls have to return to whatever waits for them at home.
Cast & crew
Abita and Brandenburg carry nearly the entire film as a two-hander, and their chemistry is what makes the friendship believable rather than symbolic. Claudio Segaluscio and Gabriele Rollo appear in smaller roles that widen the world around the two leads without ever competing for the camera's attention.
Context & significance
My Summer with Irene is Sironi's follow-up to his earlier festival work, and it continues his interest in young people navigating circumstances larger than themselves with minimal dialogue and a strong sense of place. The film premiered on the festival circuit in 2024 before reaching a broader audience later that year.
Where & how to watch
My Summer with Irene is available on K-Time with Persian subtitles, and the page itself can be browsed freely without an account. Watching the film requires logging into K-Time, where the interface and recommendations are built around a Farsi-first experience for Persian-speaking viewers wherever they live.