Stay with Me, Sister

Two women trapped by social norms in the early 20th century dare to dream for more.

Set in an era of raging fascism, Anita confesses to a crime she did not commit. In an effort to protect her stepbrother and care for her family, she is sentenced to spend years of labor in the women’s prison of Giudecca.

Despite the somber circumstances, Anita forges an odd and intimate friendship with Noemi, a fellow inmate. Neither Noemi nor the nuns who guard them ever reveal Noemi’s crime. Convinced that she has “the devil in her,” the nuns warn Anita to keep her distance. However, a bond is born between them that defies social order. Yet, circumscribed to the stone walls surrounding them, Anita and Noemi dream of a future where they will open a tailor shop together. But on the day of her friend’s release, Anita discovers Noemi’s secret whereby the forces of reality prove to be fiercer and less forgiving than their love for each other.