Lamerica

In post-communist Albania, two Italian businessmen arrive to acquire a state shoe factory. Fiore, the older and more cynical of the pair, brings along Gino, his young apprentice, to help run a scheme that depends on securing government funds for a venture that will never actually produce anything. The plan requires a local figurehead, so the two recruit Spiro, an impoverished former political prisoner, to serve as chairman of the board. When Fiore heads back to Italy to obtain the money, Spiro vanishes, leaving Gino to search for him alone. That search draws Gino into Spiro's troubled past and forces him to confront the poverty and desperation around him, changing his view of the country and himself.

Gianni Amelio directed the film and wrote the screenplay with Andrea Porporati and Alessandro Sermoneta. It followed his 1990 feature Open Doors and stands among the films he made before later works such as Hammamet and Lord of the Ants. Enrico Lo Verso plays Gino, with Michele Placido as Fiore and Carmelo Di Mazzarelli as Spiro. Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori produced the Italian-French co-production.

Released in September 1994, the drama runs 112 minutes. On IMDb it holds 7.4/10 from roughly 2,500 votes, while on TMDB it rates 7.2/10 from a much smaller sample of 67 votes. Critics rated it 8.1/10 across 12 reviews, placing it above the audience scores.