Isola, directed by Nora Jaenicke starring Fanny Ardant and Joanna Kulig, is featured in the Cannes Film Festival 2025 Film Market. Cinematography by Valentina Caniglia CCS. A psychological thriller, filmed on Elba Island, focus on the complex bond between two women. The story evolves around Joanna (Joanna Kulig), a 40-year-old woman trapped in a marriage with a wealthy and possessive man. Her encounter with Ada (Fanny Ardant), her husband’s enigmatic caregiver, triggers a path of emancipation and self-discovery that will lead Joanna to confront her own deepest desires and fears.
The film was shot mostly in English with an international crew. It was produced by Manish Mundra for Drishyam International, with co-production by Ariens Damsi for Eliofilm. Filming took place between September and November 2023 on the Elba Island, which was chosen for its suspended and timeless atmosphere, reflecting the emotional dimension of the story.
Isola is distributed internationally by Minerva Pictures International.
WE ASKED VALENTINA CANIGLIA. CCS ABOUT HER CINEMATOGRAPHY WORK FOR THE FILM:
“Island was an important cinematography journey, in part because it had been a long time since I had filmed in Italy. We made this film on the Elba’s island with Fanny Ardant and Joanna Kulig, two extraordinary actresses. The story is a dramatic thriller centered on the relationship between these two women. I took a much more natural approach to cinematography than I usually do, because the narrative required a sober look but at the same time constructed with very precise framing where the two protagonists are almost always present together in the frame and composition.
The director and I wanted to create the impression that it was not clear whether the story took place in the present or in the recent past. All choices-from colors to costumes, from furnishings to locations-were aimed towards that direction. We chose settings that evoke the past, but without explicitly indicating a precise era, deliberately leaving the temporal location ambiguous. Even throughout the light, I tried to express these feelings: I used HMI sources blowing through the windows with a soft quality of light shaped in a way that felt as if the light was coming naturally from outside. It was essential to maintain a balance between the mic of color temperatures from the interiors and the exteriors to create a visual harmony that reflected this temporal suspension.
I filmed with HAWKS V-Lite vintage ‘74 anamorphic lenses, remarkably soft and striking lenses. In many scenes the light was entirely recreated, simulating that of the sun entering the villa where much of the film takes place. The story required a special approach: the island becomes a real character, in parallel with the two protagonists. I worked a lot in creating daylight while for the interiors, I used light sources such as bulbs with filaments, seeking a balance between natural light and the warmth of tungsten sources from lamps. Therefore, I structured a visual look that reflected the tone of the film, involving every elements of the image-from the lights to the colors, from the curtains to the furniture-to create a suspended atmosphere, as if it were a film out of time. I created contrast by working on complementary colors. Together with the production designer, I went to a market to show him the colored transparent sheers and curtains I often used in the past, in this case in shades of green and red, in order to light them from the outside. It is an artistic technique that I developed over the years and it is now part of my cinematography work. I have collected these light curtains over time, which I always carry with me precisely to filter light and generate colors on the image. When the walls are white, those sheers become a perfect tool to project these tonality.
Moreover, it was essential to convey to the audience the bond between the two protagonists, an initial bond that, in the course of the story, is broken as obsession emerges. This is precisely why we chose to use anamorphic lenses: they allowed the horizontal space of the image to be filled, keeping both actresses in the same frame. It was important that they were always on stage together, because the story is not told from one point of view, but from both. This is also why the shots were very carefully designed: we alternated very wide shots with extreme close-ups, avoiding medium shots. This strong contrast served to render the inner emotions of the protagonists, their different state of minds, as they were to emerge in the story.”
