A 16-minute film shot inside a family home on Strawberry Hill Road in Concord is now on track for Academy Award consideration after selections at three Oscar-qualifying festivals this summer.

Francesco Aram Zenati, a 31-year-old Concord resident, wrote and directed "Chi Mangia Solo" ("Who Eats Alone"), a short film about two siblings who reunite for one last night in their childhood home to cook their late mother's recipe. The film stars Philip Ettinger, who appeared in the 2026 Berlinale Competition entry "Josephine," and Victoria Pedretti, known for Netflix's "The Haunting of Hill House" and "You." Zenati detailed the project in a profile published Wednesday in The Concord Bridge.

Zenati shot the film in January 2025 at his parents' house on Strawberry Hill, with additional scenes at The Umbrella Arts Center. Concord Market catered the production, and the crew held planning sessions at Haute Coffee on Walden Street.

"Random Concord people would come up and say, 'Oh, what are you doing? How can we help? Is there anything you need?'" Zenati said. "They were super-excited and wanted to be helpful. It's the most Concord thing ever."

The film premiered this summer at the Provincetown International Film Festival, where short film programmer Valerie Deus selected it from more than 1,000 submissions. It screened in a program called "New England Voices," alongside stories centered on grief, return, memory and devotion.

This week, "Chi Mangia Solo" is screening at the Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, running Aug. 4–9 in Providence. Later this month, it plays the HollyShorts Film Festival in Los Angeles, running Aug. 13–23 at the TCL Chinese Theatres. Both are Oscar-qualifying festivals. Combined with Provincetown, the three selections make the film eligible for Academy Award consideration in the Best Short Film category, according to Zenati.

The story draws directly from Zenati's life. Born in Pittsburgh to parents who emigrated from Verona, Italy, in the early 1990s, he grew up moving between the U.S. and Italy. His family relocated to Boston when he was in high school and settled in Concord in 2021. In the film, the siblings listen to a voice memo of their mother reciting a recipe for baccalà alla vicentina, a traditional Venetian cod dish. The voice belongs to Zenati's own mother.

Zenati studied film and literature at New York University, then worked in Hollywood as a filmmaker's assistant before moving into television. He rose to senior executive at Bron Studios, the production company behind "Joker" and "Licorice Pizza." Bron declared bankruptcy in 2023. So he made his own film.

He is now writing a feature-length script expanding the story. Both Ettinger and Pedretti have expressed interest in reprising their roles.