International Title

Heads or Tails?

Original Title

Testa o Croce ?

Directors

Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis

At the beginning of the 20th century, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show arrived in Rome to sell Italians the myth of the frontier—with blank rifle shots and cowboy spectacles. Against the backdrop of a legendary rodeo contest between American cowboys and Italian butteri, Rosa, the young wife of the local landowner, falls in love with Santino, the buttero who wins the challenge.
After the murder of her husband, Rosa and Santino run away together, but justice, as always, is sold to the highest bidder, and a hefty bounty is placed on Santino’s head. With Buffalo Bill hot on their trail, Rosa dreams of America—the real one, not the one in the posters with bison—but her dream must confront reality. Because, like in every true western ballad, fate flips a coin. And often, the truth remains buried underground.

Synopsis

Production

Ring Film and Cinema Inutile with Rai Cinema

Cast

Nadia Tereszkiewicz
Alessandro Borghi
John C. Reilly
Peter Lanzani
Mirko Artuso
Gabriele Silli
Gianni Garko

Genre

Drama

Running Time

116 mins

Languages

English, Italian

FESTIVALS & AWARDS

  • Helsinki International Film Festival - Official Selection

  • Seminci Valladolid International Film Festival - Meeting Point Competition

  • SXSW Sydney International Film Festival - Sydney Screen Festival Section

  • Rio de Jaineiro International Film Festival - Expectations Competition

  • Golden Rooster International Film Festival - Official Selection

  • Cinema Italian Style Seattle - 2025 Official Selection

  • Cinema Made in Italy - Athens 2025

  • Denver Film Festival 2025: Special Presentation

  • Festival de Cannes 2025: Un Certain Regard

  • Festival do Rio 2025: Expectations

  • Festival Dolce Cinema 2025: Compétition

  • Hamburg International Film Festival 2025: Kaleidoscope

  • Kinomania 2025: Festival del Cinema Italiano

  • Locarno Film Festival 2025: Piazza Grande

  • Mar del Plata International Film Festival 2025: Italian Screens

  • Melbourne International Film Festival 2025: Europe & UK

  • MittelCinemaFest 2025

  • Philadelphia Film Festival 2025: Spotlights

  • Tokyo International Film Festival 2025: Competition - Best Director

  • Viennale 2025: Features

  • Villerupt Italian Film Festival 2025: Compétition - Premio degli Esercenti Cinema

  • Márgenes International Film Festival - Official Selection

REACTIONS & REVIEWS

  • “Heads or Tails?” is at once uniquely ravishing and reinvigorating about the artistry and thoughtfulness that’s still possible in modern cinema.

    Carlos Aguilar

    THE PLAYLIST

  • Rigo de Righi and Zoppis weave a tale that gets taller by the minute. And they have created a film that finds its magic in its poetic visual segues and digressions.

    Wendy Ide

    SCREEN INTERNATIONAL

  • Historia de amor, repaso por los modos del western, reversión de la historia italiana en códigos genéricos, TESTA O CROCE? propone un recorrido por los distintos formatos del género desde una perspectiva propia.

    Diego Lerer

    MICROPSIA

  • THE GOOD - The homage to various eras of the Western genre is handled with intelligence and panache. THE FINAL SCORE - 8/10


    Max Borg

    NEXT BEST PICTURE

  • Borghi’s cowboy is all hollow puff and wilting resolve, while Tereszkiewicz plays Rosa neither as feisty dame nor damsel in distress: Instead she’s terse and guarded.

    Guy Lodge

    VARIETY

  • Beyond giving Rosa plenty of room to breathe in their piquant and provocative second narrative feature, Righi and Zoppis keep things loose, treating the past as highly vulnerable to different interpretations


    Stephen Saito

    THE MOVEABLE FEST

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