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Connection Lost

Before Apple or IBM, there was Olivetti. And one woman who fought to save its soul.

synopsis

1959, East Berlin. Brilliant 20-year-old Lia Stein’s world shatters when she discovers she’s adopted – and that her biological father is likely Adriano Olivetti, visionary CEO of Italy’s typewriter empire. Determined to find answers, Lia moves to Ivrea, Olivetti’s “concrete utopia” at the foot of the Alps. Here, Adriano has built something unprecedented: a company putting humanity at the centre of technology. But this isn’t the warm family reunion she imagined. Ivrea is a maze of corporate intrigue and family betrayals, with Adriano’s brother-in-law scheming to destroy his vision. Using her math genius, Lia infiltrates Olivetti’s secret Electronic Lab, led by IT pioneer Mario Tchou, working on the world’s first personal computer. As Cold War powers eye the breakthrough, Lia finds herself caught between her indispensable role in the lab and the risk of losing everything by revealing her identity to Adriano. When Adriano selects her for a key presentation in Moscow, CIA suspicions ignite. Just as she prepares to tell him the truth, tragedy strikes: Adriano dies mysteriously, Mario vanishes, and the lab faces shutdown. Lia not only inherits a groundbreaking invention but also Adriano’s enemies.

Director’statement

“It’s more difficult for a woman to be successful, but also much more fun,” declared Marisa Bellisario, the pioneering tech manager who thrived at Olivetti – a company revolutionary for championing female talent in an era that silenced women’s voices. Connection Lost channels this spirit through Lia Olivetti, brilliant daughter of visionary industrialist Adriano Olivetti. Arriving at the family’s utopian headquarters in 1960s Italy, Lia discovers a ferocious corporate war. Relatives are dismantling her father’s humanistic empire and preparing to sacrifice his revolutionary creation: the world’s first personal computer. She must navigate treacherous family politics, mysterious deaths, and CIA agents while fighting for recognition and her father’s legacy. This historical family drama with thriller elements captures the pivotal moment technology took a wrong turn. Like Succession meets The Queen’s Gambit, it’s one woman’s battle to reclaim a future that was stolen before it could begin.

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