We need a term for the sort of scripted documentary that’s bubbling up these days from young, independent filmmakers. Like the work of Chloé Zhao, whose The Rider was a standout at Cannes last year, or New York–born Italian-American director Jonas Carpignano’s films, which draw from real life milieus, casting people as themselves and framing their real lives as narrative constructs.

“Scripted reality” is a bit too Real Housewives; “arranged documentary,” perhaps? It’s a fine line between letting reality do the work and drawing something distilled and true out of it, and in the case of A Ciambra, Carpignano’s second film (and Italy’s Foreign Oscar contender this year), we get a little of both.