Europa Europa Film Fest 2026 - Trifole
Images courtesy of Common State.
“And now they want to erase me”
Gabriele Fabbro’s latest film Trifole (2024) is 100 minutes of genre-bending Italian heartache. Co-written by and starring Ydalie Turk as the feature’s protagonist, the film follows Dalia as she reconnects with her truffle hunting grandfather Igor (veteran actor Umberto Osini). Igor is not doing well, and is living alone in a dilapidated home in the Langhe province of the picturesque Piedmont region of Northern Italy. WIth dementia setting in to the point of being uncontactable by phone for weeks, his daughter Marta (Margherita Buy) sends her Londoner daughter Dalia to take care of him. But the proud Igor wants nothing to do with his granddaughter, who he struggles to recognise at first, stubbornly maintaining that he is fine to continue his current routine of hunting daily with his clever dog Birba (who previously starred in the award-winning 2020 documentary The Truffle Hunters), and ignoring his impending eviction due to the thousands he owes on mortgage repayments. What follows initially sets itself up as a classic tale of intergenerational bonding, but quickly turns into a local folk lore inspired quest.
The film starts with Dalia winding her way through the town of Langhe, set against a beautifully warm autumnal colour palette, phone in hand as she attempts to follow the map to Igor’s rural home. Her phone serves a major role, acting as a physical anchor to her life in London, a life which she feels has been lost, having not actualised her dreams after finishing University, something Igor calls her out on in an early confrontation. The dichotomy between the two is the focal point for the first half of the feature; his callused hands to her soft ones, his disgust towards the new found wineries that have destroyed his forest to her appreciation for their beauty, his hand drawn maps of the woods to the ones she refers to on her phone. Osini’s years of experience shine in these interactions, with Turk struggling a little to hold her own against his finely tuned skills. Rounding them out is Birba, the calm and sharp-eyed Lagotto Romagnolo mix who is fully fleshed out as a main character in her own right.
It is only when Birba expresses a belief in Dalia that an injured Igor relents and considers her capable of truffle hunting, contrasting his earlier view that his hunting secrets will die with him. He shares his fairytale-like stories of hunting, involving wolves and the fabled Jupiter’s lighting that will supposedly reveal the location of the most legendary truffle of all to fix all of their money troubles. He encourages her to hunt alone with Birba and it is here that the film begins to shift, triggered by the loss of her mobile phone as she is forced to fully embrace the woods. Suddenly all of the subtle allusions to forest witches and folklore come together to paint a fairytale final act, blurring reality with symbolism as Dalia continues on her quest. It won’t be for most viewers, the sharp tonal shift during a heart-wrenching moment might be difficult to swallow,and it is really only upon reflection that Fabbro and Turk’s intentions can be fully appreciated.
So if you love truffles, the intergenerational divide, princesses, and crying long after the film has finished then Trifole is the film for you.
4.5 out of 5 abandoned castles
Trifole screened as part of the 2026 Europa Europa Film Festival, which runs from February 19th to March 19th, with select encores running till March 26th. For tickets and more info, click here.