Morgen ist auch noch ein Tag

Rome, 1946 after the liberation from fascism. Delia (Paola Cortellesi) is the wife of Ivano (Valerio Mastandrea) and the mother of three children. Two roles she fulfils with devotion. On top of this, she helps out the household budget with lots of small jobs to keep the family afloat. Ivano, on the other hand, feels entitled to remind everyone who the breadwinner is. And not just with words. Physical and psychological violence are part of Delia's everyday life. Until a mysterious letter arrives that gives her the courage to throw everything overboard and wish for a better life, and not just for herself ...

TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY is the brilliant directorial debut of Italian actress and presenter Paola Cortellesi, who also co-wrote the screenplay and plays the lead role. Set in post-war Rome and inspired by the lives and stories of Cortellesi's own grandmothers, this rousing and warm-hearted tragicomedy celebrates women's everyday struggle for equality. Shot in brilliant black and white, TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY is also a homage to the masterpieces of Italian neorealism.

Cortellesi's directorial debut does not proclaim feminism with a raised index finger, but tells of the many small steps on the long road to emancipation. In terms of genre, she constantly switches between drama and comedy. It is a laconic, shoulder-shrugging humour with which the women hold together in this repressive time under the radar of tyrannical men, a light, almost casual female solidarity in the face of the superiority of patriarchy with its outdated role models. Ideas that persist to this day.

In 2023 alone, more than 100 femicides were registered in Italy. Here in Germany, too, a woman dies on average every third day simply because she is a woman. And statistically speaking, the home is the most dangerous place for women, as the greatest danger comes from their partner or ex-partner. This is probably one of the reasons why TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY sparked a huge debate in Italy, and Paola Cortellesi suddenly became the informal spokesperson for a newly mobilised movement in the fight against male violence. Because this story from the 1940s leads directly to the conditions of the present day.

The bold and unconventional tragicomedy opened the film festival in Rome in October, where it won the jury and audience awards, among others, and has since broken all records: the debut film by and starring Paola Cortellesi was number one in the Italian cinema charts for seven weeks and attracted more than 5 million visitors to cinemas there. It even overtook Barbie and Oppenheimer to become the most successful film of 2023.