Bleak Week: TO BE TWENTY (Avere vent’anni) – Uncensored Director’s Cut

Introduced by Revue Cinema’s programming director Serena Whitney! 

Presented in partnership with the American Cinematheque, ‘Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair’ is an annual film festival showcasing some of the greatest works of cinema from across the globe that venture into the darkest sides of humanity and the bleakest points in human history.

The fifth annual edition in June 2026 expands to nearly 100 theaters across the U.S., Canada, U.K. and South and Central America, with each venue presenting its own original curated lineup of uncompromising films defined by unpleasant truths and raw empathy.

To Be Twenty begins like a carefree, even silly sex comedy: two young women drifting through late-’70s Rome in search of pleasure, freedom, and experience. But that surface is exactly what makes the film so unsettling.

Directed by Fernando Di Leo (better known for his brutal crime films), this is a film that slowly reveals its true shape. What feels at first like a disposable exploitation film becomes something much harsher: a reflection of a culture that invites women’s liberation, and then punishes it.

If you’re familiar with Looking for Mr. Goodbar, you’ll recognize a similar trajectory between both films: women navigating their own sexual freedom in the 1970s, only to be crushed by the world around them. Both films weaponize the male gaze and expose it. To Be Twenty however disguises itself, disarms you… and then doesn’t let you go.

Fair warning: This rarely screened film ends in a way that viewers will find shocking and deeply upsetting. It is every bit as horrific as its reputation suggests, but it’s driven by a deliberate, subversive intent that gives the film its real strength. It’s not an easy film to watch, but it’s one you won’t forget. (SERENA WHITNEY) 

Please be advised: this film contains explicit sexual content, sexual violence, and a final act that is abrupt, shocking, and difficult to watch.

Part of the Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair series!

Cast/Crew Info
Director: Fernando Di Leo | Cast: Gloria Guida, Lilli Carati, Ray Lovelock, Vincenzo Crocitti, Giorgio Bracardi