Scarlet Diva

Aroview: A fearless, punk excursion into her own fleeting status as a model-cum-actress daughter of Italian horror stylist Dario Argento, Asia directs herself as whoring trash celebrity Anna Battista, a semi-autobiographical receptacle for sex, drugs and domestic violence.

With a vulnerable edge to counter the raw depiction of sexual and emotional frankness, this is saved from gross indulgence and an over-emphasis of art-house ennui by the fact that Argento (just 24 when she made this movie) has carved this ultra-personal tale out in her own blood.

Footnote: The first Italian film to be shot entirely on digital video.