The best isn't always best known.

Menabrea, the premium Italian Alpine lager, has today launched its first branded short film, ’The best isn't always best known,’ created with independent creative agency ARK Agency, produced by production house, ARTCLASS.

For the last 180 years Menabrea has been one of Italy's most quietly respected beers, a story it was keen to share with UK drinkers. The new campaign sets out to highlight Menabrea’s position as ‘Italy’s best kept secret’ giving people a reason to lean in and discover the brand for themselves.

At its centre is a long-form piece of branded content - a cinematic short film that imagines a possible story behind the beer's mysterious, under-the-radar reputation. The film will run in Everyman cinemas across the country, marking Menabrea's first foray into short film.

Set against the backdrop of Italian history, this "...storia completamente inventata," follows the adventures of a smuggler, La Contrabbandiera, as she roars through the Italian countryside, her contraband, Menabrea beer, safely stowed in her sidecar. Helped by an amusing gaggle of nuns, she evades the law, until a snitch exposes her identity. Captured and incarcerated, with no hope of escape, her sisters hatch a cunning plan to rescue their fearless protagonist, ensuring Menabrea is, once again, merrily on its way.

The work was developed through an unusually open, collaborative process: rather than briefing a single fixed idea, ARK invited director Nalle Sjöblad and production company ARTCLASS to respond to the brand's "best kept secret" positioning with their own creative interpretation. Working with producer Craig Dixon and director of photography Max Smeds, captured on 16mm film – the outcome sees a film shaped as much by directorial vision as agency strategy.

Eleanor Quigley, Senior Brand Manager, Menabrea, said: “Not every Italian icon needs to shout about itself. For more than 180 years, Menabrea's story has been rooted in Biella, a small Alpine town in northern Italy that's a world away from the Italy most people think they know. We wanted this campaign to have a knowing wink to it, celebrating the joy of discovering something brilliant before everyone else does. ARK and ARTCLASS brought that idea to life beautifully, creating a film that feels less like a beer advert and more like an invitation to uncover one of Italy's best-kept secrets.”

Xander Hart, Creative Partner, ARK, said: Beer advertising has become one long ad. The golden-hour terrace, the interchangeable friends, the perfect pour glistening in the sun, and probably David Beckham somewhere in shot. Menabrea saw that too, so when we set out to make this film for their Everyman sponsorship, we agreed early: it had to behave differently. What followed was a genuinely collaborative process with Nalle Sjöblad and the team at ArtClass. We're proud of what we've made together. A film that pulls Menabrea out of the category clichés and back toward the golden age of beer advertising.

Nalle Sjöblad, Director, ARTCLASS, said: "Most briefs arrive half-finished; they hand you an answer and ask you to decorate it. This one handed us a feeling, a framework and a line, the best isn't always the best known and trusted us to go and find the film inside it. That trust is rare, and it's the whole reason work like this can rise above advertising into something bigger."

The film will go live the evening of the 14th September across Everyman cinemas and paid social, with further activity to follow.