It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival,[1] and selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

[2][3] The film focuses on Valentina, a young girl, sent to a psychiatric clinic.

A literal translation of the title would substitute "watermelon" for "pumpkin"; however, the phrase has pop culture cachet from being an intentional mistranslation of "The Great Pumpkin" from the comic strip, Peanuts.

Valentina, nicknamed Pippi, is the daughter of two rich spouses.

The doctor who takes care of her is Arturo, who is immediately convinced that the child has these attacks due to psychological and not psychiatric problems and her family is involved.