Meet the director: Roberto Minervini

The Close-Up: Roberto Minervini opens with an in-depth conversation in which the filmmaker reflects on his approach to documentary cinema, with a special focus on the "Texas Trilogy", composed by The Passage (2011), Low Tide (2012), and Stop the Pounding Heart (2013). The discussion (45') will be followed by the screening of Stop the Pounding Heart.

Sara is a young girl raised in a family of goat farmers. Her parents homeschool their twelve children, rigorously following the precepts of the Bible. Sarah’s everyday life is governed by rules, but she is insecure when it comes to her feelings. The young rodeo rider Colby is partly to blame for this. “Help her to stop the pounding heart,” Sara’s mother prays at the end of the film, hoping that her daughter may overcome her doubts. In a stunning portrayal of contemporary America and the insular communities that dot its landscape, Stop the Pounding Heart is an exploration of adolescence, family and social values, gender roles, and religion in the rural American South.