Rome, early 1940s. Israel is a Jewish magician at the head of a small circus that includes four creatures with supernatural powers. As the rise of fascism threatens their very existence, Israel disappears. Left alone, the four performers will try to escape, but Franz, a Nazi piano player who intends to exploit their powers to win the war, has other plans in mind. Nuanced, with colourful characters, Freaks Out gleefully celebrates strangeness and differences. Five years after the successful They Call Me Jeeg in 2016, Italian director Gabriele Mainetti is back with his second project. Freaks Out invests history to better tell its characters’ story in a colourful and spectacular world. The film won the Audience Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Born in 1976 in Rome, Gabriele Mainetti is a director, actor, composer, and screenwriter. He started off by playing in a few Italian films, before becoming a filmmaker with the short film Basette, released in 2015. His first feature – They Call Me Jeeg – quickly gained traction and was acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, and won several prestigious awards. Freaks Out, his second feature, came out in Italy in 2021.