Rai Cinema head Paolo del Brocco has sought to play down fears that its new film sales operation will take away business from Italian sales agents.
Speaking to Screen, del Brocco stressed that the organisation’s dedicated international sales division, Rai Cinema International Distribution, will offer a “very clear and simple” line-up of Italian films.
Rai Cinema International Distribution, which makes its market debut at the EFM today, launches with a slate of ten Italian films. All of them are backed by Rai Cinema, the film production division of state broadcaster Rai. They include Margherita Vicario’s Berlinale competition film Gloria!,...
Speaking to Screen, del Brocco stressed that the organisation’s dedicated international sales division, Rai Cinema International Distribution, will offer a “very clear and simple” line-up of Italian films.
Rai Cinema International Distribution, which makes its market debut at the EFM today, launches with a slate of ten Italian films. All of them are backed by Rai Cinema, the film production division of state broadcaster Rai. They include Margherita Vicario’s Berlinale competition film Gloria!,...
- 2/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
Rai Cinema Launches Standalone Film Sales Unit at EFM With Lineup Toplined by Berlin Title ‘Gloria!’
Italian state broadcaster Rai’s Rai Cinema film arm is launching a new standalone film sales unit at the European Film Market.
The nascent sales company — which is called Rai Cinema International Distribution — aims to fill a gap within Rai’s content sales force given that Rai’s existing Rai Com sales unit is “mostly dedicated to TV product,” said Rai Cinema CEO Paolo Del Brocco.
It will also provide a new international distribution outlet to Italian cinema often sold by French outfits such as Newen Connect, which is the international distributor for Berlinale competition title “Another End” by Italy’s Piero Messina and starring Gael Garcia Bernal.
Rai Cinema, which invests up to €80 million ($85 million) a year in production, is the main driver of Italian indie cinema, with a hand in roughly 60 feature films a year. But Del Brocco underlined that they have no intention of imposing themselves as...
The nascent sales company — which is called Rai Cinema International Distribution — aims to fill a gap within Rai’s content sales force given that Rai’s existing Rai Com sales unit is “mostly dedicated to TV product,” said Rai Cinema CEO Paolo Del Brocco.
It will also provide a new international distribution outlet to Italian cinema often sold by French outfits such as Newen Connect, which is the international distributor for Berlinale competition title “Another End” by Italy’s Piero Messina and starring Gael Garcia Bernal.
Rai Cinema, which invests up to €80 million ($85 million) a year in production, is the main driver of Italian indie cinema, with a hand in roughly 60 feature films a year. But Del Brocco underlined that they have no intention of imposing themselves as...
- 2/14/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
In Italy, Pierfrancesco Favino needs no introduction. At this year’s David di Donatello awards ceremony — Italy’s equivalent of the Oscars — a Favino film was nominated in every major category. A shortlist of the directors he’s worked with — Gabriele Salvatores, Giuseppe Tornatore, Marco Bellocchio, Gianni Amelio, Gabriele Muccino, Ferzan Ozpetek, Mario Martone — reads like a who’s who of Italian cinema.
Internationally, Favino has carved out a second career as a supporting player in Hollywood productions. In Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna, Ron Howard’s Rush and Angels and Demons, or Mark Forster’s World War Z. But his most recent U.S. visit — to this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York — was for an Italian film: Andrea Di Stefano’s Last Night of Amore, which screened in competition.
In the gritty police drama, Favino plays the titular Franco Amore, a good cop called...
Internationally, Favino has carved out a second career as a supporting player in Hollywood productions. In Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna, Ron Howard’s Rush and Angels and Demons, or Mark Forster’s World War Z. But his most recent U.S. visit — to this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York — was for an Italian film: Andrea Di Stefano’s Last Night of Amore, which screened in competition.
In the gritty police drama, Favino plays the titular Franco Amore, a good cop called...
- 7/2/2023
- by Pino Gagliardi
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Belgian directors Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s Italian-language drama The Eight Mountains and veteran Marco Bellocchio’s Exterior Night topped the 68th edition of Italy’s David di Donatello Awards on Wednesday evening.
The Eight Mountains won best film as well as best non-original screenplay, photography and sound.
Based on the novel of the same name by Paolo Cognetti, it stars Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi as two men from different backgrounds who form a life-long bond during summers spent together as children in a remote mountain village.
The film world premiered in Competition at Cannes last year where it co-won the Jury Prize. Read the Deadline review here.
It is the second time in the history of the awards that a film by non-Italian directors has clinched the best film prize.
The last time was in 1971 when the Dino de Laurentiis-produced epic Waterloo by Russian director Sergei Bonderchuk,...
The Eight Mountains won best film as well as best non-original screenplay, photography and sound.
Based on the novel of the same name by Paolo Cognetti, it stars Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi as two men from different backgrounds who form a life-long bond during summers spent together as children in a remote mountain village.
The film world premiered in Competition at Cannes last year where it co-won the Jury Prize. Read the Deadline review here.
It is the second time in the history of the awards that a film by non-Italian directors has clinched the best film prize.
The last time was in 1971 when the Dino de Laurentiis-produced epic Waterloo by Russian director Sergei Bonderchuk,...
- 5/11/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Italy’s theatrical box office is finally showing some encouraging signs after long lagging behind other European countries in terms of post-pandemic returns.
“Don’t Worry Darling,” segueing from its Venice launch, opened better in Italy than in France and Germany last weekend when the Harry Styles and Florence Pugh-starrer scored €965,000 from Italian screens in the frame ending September 25, landing in the number two spot.
The “Avatar” re-release weighed in at number one in Italian theaters with €1.65 million (1.61 million), a better opening than Germany.
The same frame saw three Italian films – all Venice launches – among the top ten. Most notable of these is Gianni Amelio’s “Lord of the Ants,” a biopic of Italian poet and playwright Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law. “Ants” has now scored a decent more than €1.4 million (1.36 million) since bowing on Sept. 8 and briefly reaching the numero uno slot.
“Don’t Worry Darling,” segueing from its Venice launch, opened better in Italy than in France and Germany last weekend when the Harry Styles and Florence Pugh-starrer scored €965,000 from Italian screens in the frame ending September 25, landing in the number two spot.
The “Avatar” re-release weighed in at number one in Italian theaters with €1.65 million (1.61 million), a better opening than Germany.
The same frame saw three Italian films – all Venice launches – among the top ten. Most notable of these is Gianni Amelio’s “Lord of the Ants,” a biopic of Italian poet and playwright Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law. “Ants” has now scored a decent more than €1.4 million (1.36 million) since bowing on Sept. 8 and briefly reaching the numero uno slot.
- 9/30/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Film is directed by Mario Martone and stars Pierfrancesco Favino.
Italy has selected Mario Martone’s Nostalgia as its entry for the best international feature film category at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Based on the novel by Ermanno Rea, Nostalgia is set in Martone’s hometown of Naples and stars Pierfrancesco Favino as a man who returns to his origins after four decades of being away.
The film premiered in competition at this year’s Cannes film festival. It is produced by Picomedia, Mad Enertainment and Medusa Film, with True Colours handling international sales.
The other 11 titles under consideration by the...
Italy has selected Mario Martone’s Nostalgia as its entry for the best international feature film category at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Based on the novel by Ermanno Rea, Nostalgia is set in Martone’s hometown of Naples and stars Pierfrancesco Favino as a man who returns to his origins after four decades of being away.
The film premiered in competition at this year’s Cannes film festival. It is produced by Picomedia, Mad Enertainment and Medusa Film, with True Colours handling international sales.
The other 11 titles under consideration by the...
- 9/26/2022
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Click here to read the full article.
Italy’s version of National Cinema Day — a five-day event called Cinema in festa offering discount tickets for certain films at participating theaters across the country —has proved a major success, with more than 1.1 million people crowding in, bringing in around 3.9 million (€4 million) in box office revenue. Compared to the previous week, that represents a 2.1 million (€2.2 million) box office jump.
Inspired by National Cinema Day in the US and the UK, and similar cinema promotion events in France and Spain, Italy’s Cinema in festa was organized by the national audiovisual group Anica together with exhibitors association Anec with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture and with the collaboration of the Italian Cinema Academy. For the five-day period, from September 18-22, tickets at participating cinemas were fixed at 3.40 (€3.50).
The discount applied to a mix of new releases and re-run titles, with...
Italy’s version of National Cinema Day — a five-day event called Cinema in festa offering discount tickets for certain films at participating theaters across the country —has proved a major success, with more than 1.1 million people crowding in, bringing in around 3.9 million (€4 million) in box office revenue. Compared to the previous week, that represents a 2.1 million (€2.2 million) box office jump.
Inspired by National Cinema Day in the US and the UK, and similar cinema promotion events in France and Spain, Italy’s Cinema in festa was organized by the national audiovisual group Anica together with exhibitors association Anec with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture and with the collaboration of the Italian Cinema Academy. For the five-day period, from September 18-22, tickets at participating cinemas were fixed at 3.40 (€3.50).
The discount applied to a mix of new releases and re-run titles, with...
- 9/24/2022
- by Gianmaria Tammaro
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Gianni Amelio’s “Lord of the Ants,” a biopic of Italian poet and playwright Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law, has reached the top spot at Italy’s box office following its launch from the Venice Film Festival.
“Ants” on Monday reached the numero uno position at the local box office roster with a €483,474 intake from more than 300 screens following its September 8 release. While far from stellar in normal times, this result is being hailed as an encouraging sign for the country’s still sagging post-pandemic theatrical sector.
Amelio’s film is now ahead of Japanese anime pic “Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo,” which was released as an event on Monday for a three day run, and “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” which is at the end of its run, following it’s Aug. 18 Italian outing.
“After being excellently received at the Venice Film Festival,...
“Ants” on Monday reached the numero uno position at the local box office roster with a €483,474 intake from more than 300 screens following its September 8 release. While far from stellar in normal times, this result is being hailed as an encouraging sign for the country’s still sagging post-pandemic theatrical sector.
Amelio’s film is now ahead of Japanese anime pic “Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo,” which was released as an event on Monday for a three day run, and “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” which is at the end of its run, following it’s Aug. 18 Italian outing.
“After being excellently received at the Venice Film Festival,...
- 9/13/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Film Circuit begins with Telluride, a small but perfect film festival in the mountains of Colorado as simultaneously Venice unfurls the films that will soon be released in the wonderful arthouse cinemas of Europe, followed closely by Toronto whose films foretell the coming year’s Oscars nominees. It is a very exciting time to be on the festival circuit.
And simultaneously with these great screenings are sidebars, panel discussions, workshops, master classes and all around great networking for filmmakers around the world.
Venezia 79 Competition
Il Signore Delle Formiche
Director Gianni Amelio
Main Cast Luigi Lo Cascio, Elio Germano, Leonardo Maltese, Sara Serraiocco / Italy / 134’
The Whale
Director Darren Aronofsky
Main Cast Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, Ty Simpkins / USA / 117’
White Noise
Director Noah Baumbach
Main Cast Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, May Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith, André L. Benjamin and Lars Eidinger / USA / 136’
L’IMMENSITÀ
Director Emanuele Crialese
Main Cast Penélope Cruz, Luana Giuliani, Vincenzo Amato, Patrizio Francioni / Italy, France / 97’
Saint Omer
Director Alice Diop
Main Cast Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville, Aurélia Petit / France / 123’
Blonde
Director Andrew Dominik
Main Cast Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Xavier Samuel, Julianne Nicholson, Lily Fisher / USA / 166’
TÁR
Director Todd Field
Main Cast Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, Mark Strong / USA / 158’
Love Life
Director Kôji Fukada
Main Cast Fumino Kimura, Kento Nagayama, Atom Sunada / Japan, France / 123’
Bardo, Falsa CRÓNICA De Unas Cuantas Verdades
Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Main Cast Daniel Giménez Cacho, Griselda Siciliani, Ximena Lamadrid, Iker Sanchez Solano, Andrés Almeida, Francisco Rubio / Mexico / 174’
Athena
Director Romain Gavras
Main Cast Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon, Ouassini Embarek, Alexis Manenti / France / 97’
Bones And All
Director Luca Guadagnino
Main Cast Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, Mark Rylance, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, Jessica Harper, David Gordon Green, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jake Horowitz / USA / 130’
The Eternal Daughter
Director Joanna Hogg
Main Cast Tilda Swinton, Joseph Mydell, Carly-Sophia Davies / UK, USA / 96’
Shab, Dakheli, Divar (Beyond The Wall)
Director Vahid Jalilvand
Main Cast Navid Mohammadzadeh, Diana Habibi, Amir Aghaee / Iran / 126’
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Director Martin McDonagh
Main Cast Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan / Ireland, UK, USA / 109’
Argentina, 1985
Director Santiago Mitre
Main Cast Ricardo Darín, Peter Lanzani, Alejandra Flechner, Norman Briski / Argentina, USA / 140’
Chiara
Director Susanna Nicchiarelli
Main Cast Margherita Mazzucco, Andrea Carpenzano, Carlotta Natoli, Paola Tiziana Cruciani, Luigi Lo Cascio / Italy, Belgium / 106’
Monica
Director Andrea Pallaoro
Main Cast Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, Adriana Barraza, Emily Browning, Joshua Close / USA, Italy / 113’
Khers Nist (No Bears)
Director Jafar Panahi
Main Cast Jafar Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobaseri, Bakhtiar Panjeei, Mina Kavani, Reza Heydari / Iran / 107’
All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
Director Laura Poitras
USA / 117’
Un Couple
Director Frederick Wiseman
Main Cast Nathalie Boutefeu / France, USA / 64’
The Son
Director Florian Zeller
Main Cast Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Quarshie / UK / 124’
Les Miens
Director Roschdy Zem
Main Cast Sami Bouajila, Roschdy Zem, Meriem Serbah, Maïwenn, Rachid Bouchareb, Abel Jafrei, Nina Zem / France / 85’
Les Enfants Des Autres
Director Rebecca Zlotowski
Main Cast Virginie Efira, Roschdy Zem, Chiara Mastroianni, Callie Ferreira / France / 104’
Toronto is in spite of itself in a civilized sort of way in competition for the premieres with Venice, though the sequential festivals are serving different constituencies. Still, The Whale, for example is premiering in Venice and then traveling to TIFF.
TIFF Gala Presentations:
The Whale directed by Darren Aronofsky, produced and to be distributed in U.S. and actng as international sales agent A24.
TIFF says: “Brendan Fraser gives a career-defining performance in Darren Aronofsky’s arrestingly intimate drama about a reclusive English professor struggling with personal relationships and self-acceptance, adapted from the stage play by Samuel D. Hunter.”
Alice, Darling by Mary Nighy
Also playing are Alice, Darling (Mary Nighy) in which Anna Kendrick captures the anxious psychology of a woman in an abusive relationship as her friends try to reconnect with her while on a cottage getaway.
Black Ice(Hubert Davis) about Black hockey players facing systemic racism in the sport.
The Greatest Beer Run Ever (Peter Farrelly) about man’s story of leaving New York in 1967 to bring beer to his childhood buddies in the Army while they are fighting in Vietnam. An Apple TV+ production.
Butcher’s Crossing (Gabe Polsky) is a frontier epic about an Ivy League drop-out as he travels to the Colorado wilderness, where he joins a team of buffalo hunters on a journey that puts his life and sanity at risk. Based on the highly acclaimed novel by John Williams. Isa Altitude
The Hummingbird (Francesca Archibugi)Hunt (Jung-jae Lee)A Jazzman’s Blues (Tyler Perry)Kacchey Limbu (Shubham Yogi)Moving On (Paul Weitz)Paris Memories (Alice Winocour)Prisoner’s Daughter (Catherine Hardwicke)Raymond & Ray (Rodrigo García)Roost (Amy Redford)Sidney (Reginald Hudlin)The Son (Florian Zeller)The Swimmers (Sally El Hosaini)What’s Love Got to Do With It? (Shekhar Kapur)The Woman King(Gina Prince-Bythewood)
Special PRESENTATIONSAllelujah (Sir Richard Eyre)All Quiet on the Western Front (Edward Berger)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Blueback (Robert Connolly)The Blue Caftan (Maryam Touzani)Broker (Hirokazu Kore-eda)Brother (Clement Virgo)Bros (Nicholas Stoller)Catherine Called Birdy (Lena Dunham)Causeway (Lila Neugebauer)Chevalier (Stephen Williams)Corsage (Marie Kreutzer)Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook)Devotion (Jd Dillard)Driving (Madeleine Christian Carion)El Suplente (Diego Lerman)Empire of Light...
And simultaneously with these great screenings are sidebars, panel discussions, workshops, master classes and all around great networking for filmmakers around the world.
Venezia 79 Competition
Il Signore Delle Formiche
Director Gianni Amelio
Main Cast Luigi Lo Cascio, Elio Germano, Leonardo Maltese, Sara Serraiocco / Italy / 134’
The Whale
Director Darren Aronofsky
Main Cast Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, Ty Simpkins / USA / 117’
White Noise
Director Noah Baumbach
Main Cast Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, May Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith, André L. Benjamin and Lars Eidinger / USA / 136’
L’IMMENSITÀ
Director Emanuele Crialese
Main Cast Penélope Cruz, Luana Giuliani, Vincenzo Amato, Patrizio Francioni / Italy, France / 97’
Saint Omer
Director Alice Diop
Main Cast Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville, Aurélia Petit / France / 123’
Blonde
Director Andrew Dominik
Main Cast Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Xavier Samuel, Julianne Nicholson, Lily Fisher / USA / 166’
TÁR
Director Todd Field
Main Cast Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, Mark Strong / USA / 158’
Love Life
Director Kôji Fukada
Main Cast Fumino Kimura, Kento Nagayama, Atom Sunada / Japan, France / 123’
Bardo, Falsa CRÓNICA De Unas Cuantas Verdades
Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Main Cast Daniel Giménez Cacho, Griselda Siciliani, Ximena Lamadrid, Iker Sanchez Solano, Andrés Almeida, Francisco Rubio / Mexico / 174’
Athena
Director Romain Gavras
Main Cast Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon, Ouassini Embarek, Alexis Manenti / France / 97’
Bones And All
Director Luca Guadagnino
Main Cast Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, Mark Rylance, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, Jessica Harper, David Gordon Green, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jake Horowitz / USA / 130’
The Eternal Daughter
Director Joanna Hogg
Main Cast Tilda Swinton, Joseph Mydell, Carly-Sophia Davies / UK, USA / 96’
Shab, Dakheli, Divar (Beyond The Wall)
Director Vahid Jalilvand
Main Cast Navid Mohammadzadeh, Diana Habibi, Amir Aghaee / Iran / 126’
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Director Martin McDonagh
Main Cast Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan / Ireland, UK, USA / 109’
Argentina, 1985
Director Santiago Mitre
Main Cast Ricardo Darín, Peter Lanzani, Alejandra Flechner, Norman Briski / Argentina, USA / 140’
Chiara
Director Susanna Nicchiarelli
Main Cast Margherita Mazzucco, Andrea Carpenzano, Carlotta Natoli, Paola Tiziana Cruciani, Luigi Lo Cascio / Italy, Belgium / 106’
Monica
Director Andrea Pallaoro
Main Cast Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, Adriana Barraza, Emily Browning, Joshua Close / USA, Italy / 113’
Khers Nist (No Bears)
Director Jafar Panahi
Main Cast Jafar Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobaseri, Bakhtiar Panjeei, Mina Kavani, Reza Heydari / Iran / 107’
All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
Director Laura Poitras
USA / 117’
Un Couple
Director Frederick Wiseman
Main Cast Nathalie Boutefeu / France, USA / 64’
The Son
Director Florian Zeller
Main Cast Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Quarshie / UK / 124’
Les Miens
Director Roschdy Zem
Main Cast Sami Bouajila, Roschdy Zem, Meriem Serbah, Maïwenn, Rachid Bouchareb, Abel Jafrei, Nina Zem / France / 85’
Les Enfants Des Autres
Director Rebecca Zlotowski
Main Cast Virginie Efira, Roschdy Zem, Chiara Mastroianni, Callie Ferreira / France / 104’
Toronto is in spite of itself in a civilized sort of way in competition for the premieres with Venice, though the sequential festivals are serving different constituencies. Still, The Whale, for example is premiering in Venice and then traveling to TIFF.
TIFF Gala Presentations:
The Whale directed by Darren Aronofsky, produced and to be distributed in U.S. and actng as international sales agent A24.
TIFF says: “Brendan Fraser gives a career-defining performance in Darren Aronofsky’s arrestingly intimate drama about a reclusive English professor struggling with personal relationships and self-acceptance, adapted from the stage play by Samuel D. Hunter.”
Alice, Darling by Mary Nighy
Also playing are Alice, Darling (Mary Nighy) in which Anna Kendrick captures the anxious psychology of a woman in an abusive relationship as her friends try to reconnect with her while on a cottage getaway.
Black Ice(Hubert Davis) about Black hockey players facing systemic racism in the sport.
The Greatest Beer Run Ever (Peter Farrelly) about man’s story of leaving New York in 1967 to bring beer to his childhood buddies in the Army while they are fighting in Vietnam. An Apple TV+ production.
Butcher’s Crossing (Gabe Polsky) is a frontier epic about an Ivy League drop-out as he travels to the Colorado wilderness, where he joins a team of buffalo hunters on a journey that puts his life and sanity at risk. Based on the highly acclaimed novel by John Williams. Isa Altitude
The Hummingbird (Francesca Archibugi)Hunt (Jung-jae Lee)A Jazzman’s Blues (Tyler Perry)Kacchey Limbu (Shubham Yogi)Moving On (Paul Weitz)Paris Memories (Alice Winocour)Prisoner’s Daughter (Catherine Hardwicke)Raymond & Ray (Rodrigo García)Roost (Amy Redford)Sidney (Reginald Hudlin)The Son (Florian Zeller)The Swimmers (Sally El Hosaini)What’s Love Got to Do With It? (Shekhar Kapur)The Woman King(Gina Prince-Bythewood)
Special PRESENTATIONSAllelujah (Sir Richard Eyre)All Quiet on the Western Front (Edward Berger)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Blueback (Robert Connolly)The Blue Caftan (Maryam Touzani)Broker (Hirokazu Kore-eda)Brother (Clement Virgo)Bros (Nicholas Stoller)Catherine Called Birdy (Lena Dunham)Causeway (Lila Neugebauer)Chevalier (Stephen Williams)Corsage (Marie Kreutzer)Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook)Devotion (Jd Dillard)Driving (Madeleine Christian Carion)El Suplente (Diego Lerman)Empire of Light...
- 9/10/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Veteran Italian auteur Gianni Amelio rose to prominence with Oscar-nominated “Open Doors” (1990) and also “Stolen Children,” which won the 1992 Cannes Grand Prix. He won the Venice Golden Lion in 1998 with period drama “The Way We Laughed” and competed again in Venice with “A Lonely Hero” in 2013. Amelio’s more recent work comprises “Hammamet,” a portrait of disgraced late Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi’s final years in Tunisia.
Amelio is back in Venice with “Lord of the Ants” a biopic of Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968, after a four-year trial due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law. Pic, which is produced by Simone Gattoni and Marco Bellocchio, stars Luigi Lo Cascio (“The Ties”) as Braibanti, who was convicted after a complaint from his younger partner’s father, who later forced his son to be treated with electroconvulsive therapy in an ill-conceived attempt to rid him of his homosexuality.
Amelio is back in Venice with “Lord of the Ants” a biopic of Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968, after a four-year trial due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law. Pic, which is produced by Simone Gattoni and Marco Bellocchio, stars Luigi Lo Cascio (“The Ties”) as Braibanti, who was convicted after a complaint from his younger partner’s father, who later forced his son to be treated with electroconvulsive therapy in an ill-conceived attempt to rid him of his homosexuality.
- 9/10/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Oscar Wilde may be the most famous person to face imprisonment for being gay, but he wasn’t the only one to suffer under an archaic legal system. Set in 1960s Italy, Gianni Amelio’s expansive historical drama “Lord of The Ants” uncovers the story of Aldo Braibanti, an Italian playwright, poet, and director who faced imprisonment for a consensual relationship with a younger student. “Lord of The Ants” holds a mirror to this shameful chapter in Italian history, painting
The film opens on an intimate moment between the handsome and dignified Aldo (Luigi Lo Cascio) and beautiful Ettore (Leonardo Maltese). Glowing with adoration, Aldo and Ettore recite poetry to each other in an outdoor Roman movie theater, ensconced in each other’s brilliance. At another table a kind journalist named Ennio (Elio Germano) observes them with sensitivity. “Braibanti, the myrmecologist,” he points out to his cousin Grazie (Sara Serraiocco...
The film opens on an intimate moment between the handsome and dignified Aldo (Luigi Lo Cascio) and beautiful Ettore (Leonardo Maltese). Glowing with adoration, Aldo and Ettore recite poetry to each other in an outdoor Roman movie theater, ensconced in each other’s brilliance. At another table a kind journalist named Ennio (Elio Germano) observes them with sensitivity. “Braibanti, the myrmecologist,” he points out to his cousin Grazie (Sara Serraiocco...
- 9/10/2022
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Tony Leung Chiu-wai, the Hong Kong star of “In The Mood For Love” and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has been named Asian Filmmaker of the Year by the Busan International Film Festival. Leung will collect his award at the festival’s opening ceremony on Oct. 5. 2022.
The festival will open with a screening of “Scent of Wind” by Hagi Mohaghegh. The Iranian director previously won the 2015 New Currents competition in Busan with his second feature “Immortal.”
The festival will close with “A Man,” from Japan’s Ishikawa Kei. The title premiered this week at the Venice film festival in the Orrizonti section.
Busan organizers said that the festival will play a total of 243 films (features and shorts) from 71 countries and territories. These include 89 world premieres and 13 international premieres.
After two years of disruptions the festival will operate largely normally. This includes a red carpet opening ceremony,...
The festival will open with a screening of “Scent of Wind” by Hagi Mohaghegh. The Iranian director previously won the 2015 New Currents competition in Busan with his second feature “Immortal.”
The festival will close with “A Man,” from Japan’s Ishikawa Kei. The title premiered this week at the Venice film festival in the Orrizonti section.
Busan organizers said that the festival will play a total of 243 films (features and shorts) from 71 countries and territories. These include 89 world premieres and 13 international premieres.
After two years of disruptions the festival will operate largely normally. This includes a red carpet opening ceremony,...
- 9/7/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Gianni Amelio’s chronicle of the persecution of Aldo Braibanti, Lord of the Ants (Il Signore delle Formiche), doesn’t avoid the propensity of many Italian period dramas for dense verbosity, with characters spouting great gobs of manicured prose. That’s perhaps especially the case since the protagonist was a poet, playwright and philosopher. But Amelio’s classical approach, and the dignified refusal of martyrdom in Luigi Lo Cascio’s lead performance, make this account of Braibanti’s controversial imprisonment for homosexuality in 1968 after a four-year trial a quietly stirring portrait of institutional intolerance.
The Braibanti case drew international attention in the wake of his conviction due to the number of influential public figures who spoke out against the travesty of justice — Pier Paolo Pasolini, Alberto Moravia, Elsa Morante, Marco Bellocchio and Umberto Eco among them.
What’s striking now about the courtroom...
Gianni Amelio’s chronicle of the persecution of Aldo Braibanti, Lord of the Ants (Il Signore delle Formiche), doesn’t avoid the propensity of many Italian period dramas for dense verbosity, with characters spouting great gobs of manicured prose. That’s perhaps especially the case since the protagonist was a poet, playwright and philosopher. But Amelio’s classical approach, and the dignified refusal of martyrdom in Luigi Lo Cascio’s lead performance, make this account of Braibanti’s controversial imprisonment for homosexuality in 1968 after a four-year trial a quietly stirring portrait of institutional intolerance.
The Braibanti case drew international attention in the wake of his conviction due to the number of influential public figures who spoke out against the travesty of justice — Pier Paolo Pasolini, Alberto Moravia, Elsa Morante, Marco Bellocchio and Umberto Eco among them.
What’s striking now about the courtroom...
- 9/6/2022
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Triumph of the (Court’s) Will: Amelio Delves into Infamously Homophobic Italian Court Case
Perennial Italian auteur Gianni Amelio goes back to the contentious political climate of late 1960s Rome with Il signore delle formiche (Lord of the Ants) to recuperate the uncomfortable history of a law used to penalize homosexuality (though this term wasn’t used explicitly in court) as the crime of plagia. In other words, the act of manipulating another person either physically or psychologically to submit to whatever heinous biddings are deemed culturally problematic. As the film announces, the script co-written by Amelio, Federico Fava, and Edoardo Petit is ‘loosely’ based on these events, as evidenced by the intimate relationships sandwiching the eventual courtroom melodrama.…...
Perennial Italian auteur Gianni Amelio goes back to the contentious political climate of late 1960s Rome with Il signore delle formiche (Lord of the Ants) to recuperate the uncomfortable history of a law used to penalize homosexuality (though this term wasn’t used explicitly in court) as the crime of plagia. In other words, the act of manipulating another person either physically or psychologically to submit to whatever heinous biddings are deemed culturally problematic. As the film announces, the script co-written by Amelio, Federico Fava, and Edoardo Petit is ‘loosely’ based on these events, as evidenced by the intimate relationships sandwiching the eventual courtroom melodrama.…...
- 9/6/2022
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Myrmecology is a study of science that looks at the life, society and hierarchy of ants. Early Myrmecologists believed that ant culture was utopian and thought by studying them in encased ant farms, they could find solutions to human problems. However, Gianni Amelio’s Italian post-wwii drama The Lord of the Ants (Il Signore Delle Formiche) flips this idea around. It examines why strict societies foster cultures of oppression where everyone must play their role or be punished.
The screenplay by Amelio, Federico Fava and Edoardo Petti chooses its dialogue with precision. They want us to know they resent post-Mussolini Europe and how not just homosexuals but anyone on the margins is oppressed under fascist rule.
Venice Film Festival: Deadline’s Full Coverage
In 1965 Rome, Aldo Braibanti (Luigi Lo Cascio) is caught sleeping with his young lover Ettore (Leonardo Maltese). Their relationship started a year earlier in small-town Italy, where Aldo was directing a play.
The screenplay by Amelio, Federico Fava and Edoardo Petti chooses its dialogue with precision. They want us to know they resent post-Mussolini Europe and how not just homosexuals but anyone on the margins is oppressed under fascist rule.
Venice Film Festival: Deadline’s Full Coverage
In 1965 Rome, Aldo Braibanti (Luigi Lo Cascio) is caught sleeping with his young lover Ettore (Leonardo Maltese). Their relationship started a year earlier in small-town Italy, where Aldo was directing a play.
- 9/6/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Gianni Amelio was in his late sixties when he came out as gay a few years ago. The announcement preceded the release of his documentary “Happy to Be Different,” which worked toward an overriding sunniness in contemplating the trials and challenges of being gay in Italy at various points in the 20th century. In turning to a gay-themed narrative project, Amelio narrows the focus and dims the mood: “Lord of the Ants” takes as its subject the gay Italian author Aldo Braibanti, and the social and legal opposition he faced over his sexuality in mid-1960s Rome. Solemn, stately and perhaps a little stifled, it’s the kind of queer statement you might expect from a veteran filmmaker who wasn’t until relatively recently out and proud, and is rather poignant for that.
In a key scene, the middle-aged Braibanti (played with urbane grace by Luigi Lo Cascio) takes his...
In a key scene, the middle-aged Braibanti (played with urbane grace by Luigi Lo Cascio) takes his...
- 9/6/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Prominent arthouse sales company The Match Factory has closed multiple sales on Italian auteur Gianni Amelio’s Venice competition title “Lord of the Ants” ahead of its Venice premiere on Tuesday.
The Match Factory has sealed deals on Amelio’s latest work – which is a biopic of Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law – that will ensure the film’s theatrical release in Australia/New Zealand (Palace Films); Japan (Zazie Films); Spain (Surtsey Films); Sweden (TriArt Film) and Greece (Ama Films). Further deals are in negotiation, the company said.
Braibanti was convicted after a complaint from his partner’s father, who later forced his son to be treated with electroconvulsive therapy in an ill-conceived attempt to rid him of his homosexuality. The Fascist-era law that punished Braibanti, which made it a crime to lead innocent or unwary people “morally” astray,...
The Match Factory has sealed deals on Amelio’s latest work – which is a biopic of Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law – that will ensure the film’s theatrical release in Australia/New Zealand (Palace Films); Japan (Zazie Films); Spain (Surtsey Films); Sweden (TriArt Film) and Greece (Ama Films). Further deals are in negotiation, the company said.
Braibanti was convicted after a complaint from his partner’s father, who later forced his son to be treated with electroconvulsive therapy in an ill-conceived attempt to rid him of his homosexuality. The Fascist-era law that punished Braibanti, which made it a crime to lead innocent or unwary people “morally” astray,...
- 9/6/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Since 2007, Venice’s Queer Lion Award has reflected and elevated the best in LGBTQ cinema. Fifteen years later, founder Daniel N. Casagrande said this year’s Venice Film Festival will be “the most queer edition ever.”
Among the fest’s 30 LGBTQ-themed titles, 19 are competing for the Queer Lion, including a record six films from the main competition. They include Todd Field’s orchestra conductor drama “Tár,” starring Cate Blanchett; Darren Aronofsky’s estranged gay father study “The Whale,” featuring Brendan Fraser; Laura Poitras’ doc “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” chronicling bisexual artist Nan Goldin’s life and anti-opioid crusade; Andrea Pallaoro’s trans woman family drama “Monica”; Emanuele Crialese’s “L’immensità,” starring Penélope Cruz as the mother of a transgender child; and Gianni Amelio’s “Il signore delle formiche,” the true story of an Italian artist jailed under an infamous anti-gay law.
With an average of eight to 10 nominees each year,...
Among the fest’s 30 LGBTQ-themed titles, 19 are competing for the Queer Lion, including a record six films from the main competition. They include Todd Field’s orchestra conductor drama “Tár,” starring Cate Blanchett; Darren Aronofsky’s estranged gay father study “The Whale,” featuring Brendan Fraser; Laura Poitras’ doc “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” chronicling bisexual artist Nan Goldin’s life and anti-opioid crusade; Andrea Pallaoro’s trans woman family drama “Monica”; Emanuele Crialese’s “L’immensità,” starring Penélope Cruz as the mother of a transgender child; and Gianni Amelio’s “Il signore delle formiche,” the true story of an Italian artist jailed under an infamous anti-gay law.
With an average of eight to 10 nominees each year,...
- 9/2/2022
- by Gregg Goldstein
- Variety Film + TV
Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. As the Venice Film Festival kicks off today, we’re speaking with Rai Cinema CEO Paolo Del Brocco about some of the company’s 24 titles featuring in the festival this year as well as his ongoing challenge to lure Italian audiences back into the cinema after a rocky post-pandemic period.
Rai Cinema CEO Paolo Del Brocco is no stranger to the Venice Film Festival, having headed up the film arm of the top Italian public broadcaster Rai for more than a decade. But, in many ways, this year feels more significant than ever for the top exec as he touches down on the Lido to enjoy local and international projects on the big screen at a time when the cinema sector has...
Rai Cinema CEO Paolo Del Brocco is no stranger to the Venice Film Festival, having headed up the film arm of the top Italian public broadcaster Rai for more than a decade. But, in many ways, this year feels more significant than ever for the top exec as he touches down on the Lido to enjoy local and international projects on the big screen at a time when the cinema sector has...
- 8/31/2022
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Leading Italian theatrical distribution and production house Eagle Pictures has acquired a 100 stake in emerging independent film and TV production start-up 302 Original Content.
Giuseppe Saccà launched 302 Original Content in July 2021 and will stay on as its managing director.
Saccà previously produced alongside his father Agostino Sacca under the banner of Pepito Produzioni, the Rome-based company behind films such as Gianni Amelio’s Hammamet and Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo’s Bad Tales.
302 Original Content’s credits to date include Calabria-set romantic comedy My Brother And I about a brother and sister fighting for the love of the same woman, and the Marta & Eva teen series produced with Rai Ragazzi for Rai Gulp/RaiPlay.
“The acquisition of 302 further expands Eagle Pictures’ business in a constantly evolving audiovisual market,” said Eagle Pictures president and owner Tarak Ben Ammar.
Eagle Pictures was Italy’s top performing distributor in the second quarter of 2022 with a 22.5 share of the market,...
Giuseppe Saccà launched 302 Original Content in July 2021 and will stay on as its managing director.
Saccà previously produced alongside his father Agostino Sacca under the banner of Pepito Produzioni, the Rome-based company behind films such as Gianni Amelio’s Hammamet and Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo’s Bad Tales.
302 Original Content’s credits to date include Calabria-set romantic comedy My Brother And I about a brother and sister fighting for the love of the same woman, and the Marta & Eva teen series produced with Rai Ragazzi for Rai Gulp/RaiPlay.
“The acquisition of 302 further expands Eagle Pictures’ business in a constantly evolving audiovisual market,” said Eagle Pictures president and owner Tarak Ben Ammar.
Eagle Pictures was Italy’s top performing distributor in the second quarter of 2022 with a 22.5 share of the market,...
- 8/4/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Film arm of Italy’s state broadcaster has four films in competition at Venice.
Rai Cinema is investing €85m (86.9m) in 80 new projects this year, according to CEO Paolo Del Brocco.
Del Brocco was speaking to Screen as the film production and distribution arm of Italy’s state broadcaster gears up to premiere three films in the Venice Film Festival’s main competition. In total, Rai Cinema has 22 films debuting in all Venice sections including Horizons.
“Obviously, the overall production value of the films is higher, given that Rai Cinema’s investment covers only a part of the movies’ financial requirements,...
Rai Cinema is investing €85m (86.9m) in 80 new projects this year, according to CEO Paolo Del Brocco.
Del Brocco was speaking to Screen as the film production and distribution arm of Italy’s state broadcaster gears up to premiere three films in the Venice Film Festival’s main competition. In total, Rai Cinema has 22 films debuting in all Venice sections including Horizons.
“Obviously, the overall production value of the films is higher, given that Rai Cinema’s investment covers only a part of the movies’ financial requirements,...
- 8/2/2022
- by Alina Trabattoni
- ScreenDaily
Filmmaker Vahid Jalilvand returns to the Lido for the third time.
The Match Factory has acquired worldwide rights to Vahid Jalilvand’s Iranian feature Beyond The Wall, which will have its world premiere in the Venice Competition in September.
It is a sixth Venice pickup for The Match Factory, and third Competition title; it announced the acquisitions of Gianni Amelio’s Lord Of The Ants and Susanna Nicchiarelli’s Chiara earlier this week.
Beyond The Wall follows a blind man whose suicide attempt is interrupted by his building’s concierge. The concierge informs him that an escaped woman is hidden...
The Match Factory has acquired worldwide rights to Vahid Jalilvand’s Iranian feature Beyond The Wall, which will have its world premiere in the Venice Competition in September.
It is a sixth Venice pickup for The Match Factory, and third Competition title; it announced the acquisitions of Gianni Amelio’s Lord Of The Ants and Susanna Nicchiarelli’s Chiara earlier this week.
Beyond The Wall follows a blind man whose suicide attempt is interrupted by his building’s concierge. The concierge informs him that an escaped woman is hidden...
- 7/29/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
White NoiseCOMPETITIONWhite Noise (Noah Baumbach)Il Signore Delle Formiche (Gianni Amelio)The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)L’Immensita (Emanuele Crialese)Saint Omer (Alice Diop)Blonde (Andrew Dominik)Tár (Todd Field)Love Life (Koji Fukada)Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths (Alejandro G. Inarritu)Athena (Romain Gavras)Bones & All (Luca Guadagnino)The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)Beyond The Wall (Vahid Jalilvand)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Argentina, 1985 (Santiago Mitre)Chiara (Susanna Nicchiarelli)Monica (Andrea Pallaoro)No Bears (Jafar Panahi)All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)The Son (Florian Zeller)Our Ties (Roschdy Zem)Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionThe Hanging Sun (Francesco Carrozzini)When The Waves Are Gone (Lav Diaz)Living (Oliver Hermanus)Dead For A Dollar (Walter Hill)Call Of God (Kim Ki-duk)Dreamin’ Wild (Bill Pohlad)Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)Siccità (Paolo Virzi)Pearl (Ti West)Don’t Worry Darling...
- 7/28/2022
- MUBI
Updated, July 27 at 9:53 a.m. Et: The official Xr competition category of the 2022 Venice International Film Festival marks the return of the exhibition for the first time since 2019 to the island Lazzaretto Vecchio. Close to the Lido, Festival goers, industry members, and press will have the opportunity to screen 43 projects from 19 countries within the Xr exhibit.
The Venice Immersive, the new title of the Venice VR Expanded section, intends to acknowledge the growth of immersive media beyond the technologies of Virtual Reality and to include all means of creative expression in Xr – Extended Reality: 360° videos and Xr works of any length, including installations, live performances and virtual worlds. The Venice Immersive section of the 79th Venice International Film Festival will be held in person again this year, with the technical support of Meta and Htc Vive.
Returning Grand Prize winners like Celine Tricart (“Fight Back”) and special projects from...
The Venice Immersive, the new title of the Venice VR Expanded section, intends to acknowledge the growth of immersive media beyond the technologies of Virtual Reality and to include all means of creative expression in Xr – Extended Reality: 360° videos and Xr works of any length, including installations, live performances and virtual worlds. The Venice Immersive section of the 79th Venice International Film Festival will be held in person again this year, with the technical support of Meta and Htc Vive.
Returning Grand Prize winners like Celine Tricart (“Fight Back”) and special projects from...
- 7/27/2022
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Gianni Amelio’s ‘Lord Of The Ants’ and Susanna Nicchiarelli’s ‘Chiara’ both in Competition.
Sales powerhouse The Match Factory is representing five titles at this year’s Venice Film Festival, including two Competition films plus Mark Cousins’ Giornate degli Autori opener The March On Rome.
Both of the German-based sales firm’s Competition titles are Italian films. Gianni Amelio’s Lord Of The Ants recounts the true story of Italian playwright and poet Aldo Braibanti, and the relationship he had with his pupil Ettore that lead to an infamous trial in the 1960s.
Kavac Film, Ibc Movie, Tenderstories and Rai Cinema produced the title.
Sales powerhouse The Match Factory is representing five titles at this year’s Venice Film Festival, including two Competition films plus Mark Cousins’ Giornate degli Autori opener The March On Rome.
Both of the German-based sales firm’s Competition titles are Italian films. Gianni Amelio’s Lord Of The Ants recounts the true story of Italian playwright and poet Aldo Braibanti, and the relationship he had with his pupil Ettore that lead to an infamous trial in the 1960s.
Kavac Film, Ibc Movie, Tenderstories and Rai Cinema produced the title.
- 7/26/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
With opening night locked in––Noah Baumbach’s highly-anticipated Don DeLillo adaptation White Noise––Venice Film Festival has unveiled the rest of their lineup. Amongst the slate is Todd Field’s TÁR, Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, Paul Schrader’s Master Gardener, Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All, Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter, Frederick Wiseman’s A Couple, Laura Poitras’ All The Beauty And The Bloodshed, Walter Hill’s Dead for a Dollar, and more.
Check out the lineup below, with a hat tip to Deadline.
Venezia 79 Competiton
Il Signore Delle Formiche, dir: Gianni Amelio
The Whale, dir: Darren Aronofsky
L’Imensita, dir: Emanuel Crialese
Saint Omer, dir: Alice Diop
Blonde, dir: Andrew Dominik
TÁR, dir: Todd Field
Love Life, dir: Koji Fukada
Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths, dir: Alejandro G. Inarritu
Athena,...
Check out the lineup below, with a hat tip to Deadline.
Venezia 79 Competiton
Il Signore Delle Formiche, dir: Gianni Amelio
The Whale, dir: Darren Aronofsky
L’Imensita, dir: Emanuel Crialese
Saint Omer, dir: Alice Diop
Blonde, dir: Andrew Dominik
TÁR, dir: Todd Field
Love Life, dir: Koji Fukada
Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths, dir: Alejandro G. Inarritu
Athena,...
- 7/26/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Update: The Venice Film Festival has revealed a robust lineup for the 79th edition which runs from August 31-September 10 on the Lido. Scroll down for the full list of Competition titles which include new works from such directors as Darren Aronofsky, Alejandro G Iñárritu, Todd Field, Andrew Dominik, Luca Guadagnino, Alice Diop, Joanna Hogg, Martin McDonagh, Jafar Panahi and Florian Zeller.
In big-ticket Out of Competition berths are Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling from Warner Bros and starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles as well as a new documentary from Oliver Stone and TV series The Kingdom Exodus and Copenhagen Cowboy, respectively from Danish auteurs Lars von Trier and Nicolas Winding Refn.
Previous: The Venice Film Festival will unveil its lineup for the 79th edition this morning at 11 a.m. local time (2 a.m. Pt/5 a.m. Et). The press conference is being held at the Library of the...
In big-ticket Out of Competition berths are Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling from Warner Bros and starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles as well as a new documentary from Oliver Stone and TV series The Kingdom Exodus and Copenhagen Cowboy, respectively from Danish auteurs Lars von Trier and Nicolas Winding Refn.
Previous: The Venice Film Festival will unveil its lineup for the 79th edition this morning at 11 a.m. local time (2 a.m. Pt/5 a.m. Et). The press conference is being held at the Library of the...
- 7/26/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Includes films by Alejandro G. Inarritu, Joanna Hogg, Olivia Wilde, Darren Aronofsky, Andrew Dominik, Luca Guadagnino and Florian Zeller.
The line-up of the 79th Venice Film Festival (August 31-September 10) has been announced by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera.
Scroll down for full line-up
The heavyweight competition line-up includes films by Alejandro G. Inarritu, Joanna Hogg, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Darren Aronofsky, Andrew Dominik, Luca Guadagnino, Martin McDonagh and Florian Zeller. As with last year, five female directors were selected in the main competition. Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling is playing out of competition.
As previously announced, Noah Baumbach...
The line-up of the 79th Venice Film Festival (August 31-September 10) has been announced by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera.
Scroll down for full line-up
The heavyweight competition line-up includes films by Alejandro G. Inarritu, Joanna Hogg, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Darren Aronofsky, Andrew Dominik, Luca Guadagnino, Martin McDonagh and Florian Zeller. As with last year, five female directors were selected in the main competition. Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling is playing out of competition.
As previously announced, Noah Baumbach...
- 7/26/2022
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
As Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera continues to see films and tinker with his selection before announcing the Lido lineup next week, several high-profile titles have emerged as either locked in or highly likely to be launching from the Lido.
As previously anticipated by Variety, U.S. studios and streamers are set to be disembarking at the fest in full force. Warner Bros. will be launching steamy psychological thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” which is Olivia Wilde’s second directorial effort and stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles. The pic is one of two movies starring the latter pop star to come out this fall (the other being Amazon Studios’ “My Policeman”).
Focus Features will be on the Lido with Todd Field’s “Tár,” which teams the “In the Bedroom” director with Cate Blanchett as the fictional Lydia Tár, one of the world’s greatest conductors and the first female...
As previously anticipated by Variety, U.S. studios and streamers are set to be disembarking at the fest in full force. Warner Bros. will be launching steamy psychological thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” which is Olivia Wilde’s second directorial effort and stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles. The pic is one of two movies starring the latter pop star to come out this fall (the other being Amazon Studios’ “My Policeman”).
Focus Features will be on the Lido with Todd Field’s “Tár,” which teams the “In the Bedroom” director with Cate Blanchett as the fictional Lydia Tár, one of the world’s greatest conductors and the first female...
- 7/21/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Wolfe Releasing has acquired North American rights to the Italian Lgbtqia+ dramedy Blessed Boys (La Santa Piccola) from Minerva Pictures, ahead of its June 11 North American premiere at the Tribeca Festival, with plans to release it in theaters and on digital in the fall.
Writer-director Silvia Brunelli’s first feature centers on Mario (Vincenzo Antonucci) and Lino (Francesco Pellegrino), who two 18-year-old friends born and raised in the Sanitá quarter in Naples who never have stepped out of their small town. They lead a simple life, until Lino’s little sister, Annaluce (Sofia Guastaferro), convinces the locals that she has performed a miracle and they begin worshipping her as a living saint. The fate of her family abruptly changes: Mario realizes that he is in love with Lino, who does not notice it, and tries to find a way out from his routine life.
Blessed Boys made its world...
Writer-director Silvia Brunelli’s first feature centers on Mario (Vincenzo Antonucci) and Lino (Francesco Pellegrino), who two 18-year-old friends born and raised in the Sanitá quarter in Naples who never have stepped out of their small town. They lead a simple life, until Lino’s little sister, Annaluce (Sofia Guastaferro), convinces the locals that she has performed a miracle and they begin worshipping her as a living saint. The fate of her family abruptly changes: Mario realizes that he is in love with Lino, who does not notice it, and tries to find a way out from his routine life.
Blessed Boys made its world...
- 5/5/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
In spite of a disastrous box office situation, the Italian film industry is staying buoyant thanks to increased exports, a friendly rapport with streaming giants and support from the government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi that is pumping money into a revamp of Rome’s Cinecittà Studios.
“Production never stopped and ailing movie theaters have been able to get subsidies,” says Francesco Rutelli, the former Rome mayor who heads Italy’s motion picture association, Anica. The org recently broadened its member base to include executives from Amazon Prime Video, Disney and ViacomCBS, after Netflix had joined.
This move — which is unique in Europe — indicates the level of friendly dialogue between film producers and streaming platforms in Italy, best encapsulated by Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God,” Italy’s international Oscar nominee. Sorrentino’s Netflix original film was released theatrically in November across the country before dropping on the platform...
“Production never stopped and ailing movie theaters have been able to get subsidies,” says Francesco Rutelli, the former Rome mayor who heads Italy’s motion picture association, Anica. The org recently broadened its member base to include executives from Amazon Prime Video, Disney and ViacomCBS, after Netflix had joined.
This move — which is unique in Europe — indicates the level of friendly dialogue between film producers and streaming platforms in Italy, best encapsulated by Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God,” Italy’s international Oscar nominee. Sorrentino’s Netflix original film was released theatrically in November across the country before dropping on the platform...
- 2/13/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The trailer for Francesco Costabile’s Mafia family drama “Una Femmina,” which premieres in Berlinale’s Panorama section, has debuted. Intramovies will handle sales at the virtual European Film Market.
The film centers on Rosa, a restless young woman who lives with her mother’s relatives in a remote village in Calabria, Southern Italy. Her mother’s mysterious death when she was still a child casts a shadow on her present. When the truth emerges and Rosa realizes she is trapped in a same predestined fate, she decides to betray her family, seeking revenge against her own blood. However, when your family belongs to the ‘Ndrangheta Mafia, a single misstep can lead to death.
The script was adapted from Lirio Abbate’s book “Fimmine Ribelli,” and the storyline was written by Abbate with Edoardo de Angelis, one of the producers of the movie and an established director. Together, they distilled...
The film centers on Rosa, a restless young woman who lives with her mother’s relatives in a remote village in Calabria, Southern Italy. Her mother’s mysterious death when she was still a child casts a shadow on her present. When the truth emerges and Rosa realizes she is trapped in a same predestined fate, she decides to betray her family, seeking revenge against her own blood. However, when your family belongs to the ‘Ndrangheta Mafia, a single misstep can lead to death.
The script was adapted from Lirio Abbate’s book “Fimmine Ribelli,” and the storyline was written by Abbate with Edoardo de Angelis, one of the producers of the movie and an established director. Together, they distilled...
- 1/25/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Il signore delle formiche
Septuagenarian Gianni Amelio is showing zero signs of slowing down quickly after 2020’s Hammamet he climbed onto a film that could stir up Italy’s past with Il signore delle formiche. The Italian filmmaker who once worked as an assistant director for Liliana Cavani has competed for the Palme d’Or once in his career with The Stolen Children but obviously has a better track record at Venice debuting his feature Blow to the Heart (1982), and winning the Golden Lion for The Way We Laughed (1998). Reteaming with his La tenerezza actor Elio Germano, Il signore delle formiche is the biopic of Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law.…...
Septuagenarian Gianni Amelio is showing zero signs of slowing down quickly after 2020’s Hammamet he climbed onto a film that could stir up Italy’s past with Il signore delle formiche. The Italian filmmaker who once worked as an assistant director for Liliana Cavani has competed for the Palme d’Or once in his career with The Stolen Children but obviously has a better track record at Venice debuting his feature Blow to the Heart (1982), and winning the Golden Lion for The Way We Laughed (1998). Reteaming with his La tenerezza actor Elio Germano, Il signore delle formiche is the biopic of Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law.…...
- 1/10/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Films include Emerald Fennell’s ‘Promising Young Woman’ and Blerta Basholli’s ‘Hive’.
More films than ever before are eligible for this year’s European Film Awards’ feature film and documentary film selection, with 40 feature films and 15 documentary films, and further feature film titles to be revealed in September.
Titles in the feature film selection include Blerta Basholli’s Sundance hit Hive and Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman. The latter is eligible despite being listed as a film of US origin. The European Film Academy (Efa) told Screen this was because the film reaches the number of points in...
More films than ever before are eligible for this year’s European Film Awards’ feature film and documentary film selection, with 40 feature films and 15 documentary films, and further feature film titles to be revealed in September.
Titles in the feature film selection include Blerta Basholli’s Sundance hit Hive and Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman. The latter is eligible despite being listed as a film of US origin. The European Film Academy (Efa) told Screen this was because the film reaches the number of points in...
- 8/24/2021
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Ammonite, Apples, Promising Young Woman, Supernova, The Dig, The Father and The Mauritanian are among the first wave of movies recommended by a European Film Awards committee for nomination at this year’s event.
A record number of movies have been suggested by the committee this year in light of the pandemic disruption. More than 40 films have been revealed today — features and docs — with more set to be revealed in September.
The feature films have been selected by a committee of the Academy Board and a range of European industry professionals. The documentary films have been selected by Efa Board Members Graziella Bildesheim (institutional/Italy) and Ada Solomon (producer/Romania), Katja Gauriloff, Kathrin Kohlstedde (festival programmer/Germany), Veton Nurkollari (artistic director/Kosovo), Orwa Nyrabia, Rada Šešić (festival programmer and filmmaker/Bosnia & Herzegovina/The Netherlands), Rajesh Thind and...
A record number of movies have been suggested by the committee this year in light of the pandemic disruption. More than 40 films have been revealed today — features and docs — with more set to be revealed in September.
The feature films have been selected by a committee of the Academy Board and a range of European industry professionals. The documentary films have been selected by Efa Board Members Graziella Bildesheim (institutional/Italy) and Ada Solomon (producer/Romania), Katja Gauriloff, Kathrin Kohlstedde (festival programmer/Germany), Veton Nurkollari (artistic director/Kosovo), Orwa Nyrabia, Rada Šešić (festival programmer and filmmaker/Bosnia & Herzegovina/The Netherlands), Rajesh Thind and...
- 8/24/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Italian auteur Gianni Amelio (“Open Doors”) will shoot a biopic of Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law. The Match Factory has boarded the pic and is launching international sales in Cannes.
Amelio is best-known for the Oscar-nominated “Open Doors” (1990) and also “Stolen Children,” which won the 1992 Cannes Grand Prix, as well as “Hammamet,” a portrait of disgraced late Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi’s final years in Tunisia.
Braibanti was convicted after a complaint from his partner’s father, who later forced his son to be treated with electroconvulsive therapy in an ill-conceived attempt to rid him of his homosexuality. The Fascist-era law that punished Braibanti, which made it a crime to lead innocent or unwary people “morally” astray, was repealed in 1981.
Amelio’s new film, titled “Il signore delle formiche,” which translates as “The Ants Man,” features an...
Amelio is best-known for the Oscar-nominated “Open Doors” (1990) and also “Stolen Children,” which won the 1992 Cannes Grand Prix, as well as “Hammamet,” a portrait of disgraced late Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi’s final years in Tunisia.
Braibanti was convicted after a complaint from his partner’s father, who later forced his son to be treated with electroconvulsive therapy in an ill-conceived attempt to rid him of his homosexuality. The Fascist-era law that punished Braibanti, which made it a crime to lead innocent or unwary people “morally” astray, was repealed in 1981.
Amelio’s new film, titled “Il signore delle formiche,” which translates as “The Ants Man,” features an...
- 7/10/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Italy’s 66th David di Donatello Awards are set to celebrate on May 11 a year of resilience for Cinema Italiano that also looks likely to germinate some creative renewal, just as Italian movie theaters start to reopen and production is booming.
Giorgio Diritti’s biopic “Hidden Away,” about crazed primitivist painter Antonio Ligabue, Gianni Amelio’s wistful “Hammamet,” which reconstructs the Tunisian self-exile of scandal-plagued Italian leader Bettino Craxi, and dark drama “Bad Tales” by the D’Innocenzo Brothers lead the crowded field for Italy’s equivalent of the Oscars, with no clear frontrunner.
Significantly, “Hidden Away,” which scooped 15 nominations, and “Bad Tales,” which scored 13, both star actor Elio Germano. And Germano also plays the lead in another standout title in the Davids race, Netflix Italian Original “The Incredible Story of Rose Island,” which landed 11 noms, including one for the pic’s producer, multihyphenate Matteo Rovere, whose Groenlandia Group is having a banner year.
Giorgio Diritti’s biopic “Hidden Away,” about crazed primitivist painter Antonio Ligabue, Gianni Amelio’s wistful “Hammamet,” which reconstructs the Tunisian self-exile of scandal-plagued Italian leader Bettino Craxi, and dark drama “Bad Tales” by the D’Innocenzo Brothers lead the crowded field for Italy’s equivalent of the Oscars, with no clear frontrunner.
Significantly, “Hidden Away,” which scooped 15 nominations, and “Bad Tales,” which scored 13, both star actor Elio Germano. And Germano also plays the lead in another standout title in the Davids race, Netflix Italian Original “The Incredible Story of Rose Island,” which landed 11 noms, including one for the pic’s producer, multihyphenate Matteo Rovere, whose Groenlandia Group is having a banner year.
- 5/6/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Italy’s 3zero2 shingle, which is a co-producer of Brendan Foley’s pan-European noir “Body of Water,” is ramping up and expanding into film after bringing on board producer Giuseppe Saccà who shepherded Berlin prizewinning drama “Bad Tales.”
The Milan-based outfit founded and headed by veteran TV exec Piero Crispino has been quietly gaining prominence in Italy in the kids’ space by producing shows for Disney that have travelled internationally, such as “Alex & Co” and “Penny on M.A.R.S.,” but also various types of content for local broadcasters Rai, Mediaset, Sky, Viacom and Discovery.
Now, 3zero2 is looking to grow and broaden its scope with the arrival of Saccà who in March was appointed director of content after he exited Pepito Production, the Rome-based company headed by his father, former Rai head of drama Agostino Saccà, which will be collaborating closely with 3zero2, Crispino said. Besides “Bad Tales,” by Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo,...
The Milan-based outfit founded and headed by veteran TV exec Piero Crispino has been quietly gaining prominence in Italy in the kids’ space by producing shows for Disney that have travelled internationally, such as “Alex & Co” and “Penny on M.A.R.S.,” but also various types of content for local broadcasters Rai, Mediaset, Sky, Viacom and Discovery.
Now, 3zero2 is looking to grow and broaden its scope with the arrival of Saccà who in March was appointed director of content after he exited Pepito Production, the Rome-based company headed by his father, former Rai head of drama Agostino Saccà, which will be collaborating closely with 3zero2, Crispino said. Besides “Bad Tales,” by Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo,...
- 4/13/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Giorgio Diritti’s biopic of an obscure artist “Hidden Away,” Gianni Amelio’s “Hammamet,” about scandal plagued Italian leader Bettino Craxi, and dark drama “Bad Tales” by the D’Innocenzo Brothers lead the race for Italy’s David di Donatello Awards, the country’s top film prizes, for which this year there is no clear frontrunner.
Interestingly, “Hidden Away,” which scooped 15 nominations, and “Bad Tales,” which tallied 13 noms, both star actor Elio Germano. Germano also stars in another film in the Davids race, Netflix Italian Original “The Incredible Story of Rose Island,” which scooped 11 nominations, including one for Matteo Rovere, its producer.
During a virtual press conference Piera Detassis, who heads the David nods, underlined the strong presence this year of women directors, citing Susanna Nicchiarelli’s “Miss Marx,” a biopic of Karl Marx’s proto-feminist daughter Eleanor, and also Emma Dante’s Sicily-set “The Macaluso Sisters,” that are both nominated for film and director.
Interestingly, “Hidden Away,” which scooped 15 nominations, and “Bad Tales,” which tallied 13 noms, both star actor Elio Germano. Germano also stars in another film in the Davids race, Netflix Italian Original “The Incredible Story of Rose Island,” which scooped 11 nominations, including one for Matteo Rovere, its producer.
During a virtual press conference Piera Detassis, who heads the David nods, underlined the strong presence this year of women directors, citing Susanna Nicchiarelli’s “Miss Marx,” a biopic of Karl Marx’s proto-feminist daughter Eleanor, and also Emma Dante’s Sicily-set “The Macaluso Sisters,” that are both nominated for film and director.
- 3/26/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio, recently the big winner at Italy’s David di Donatello awards with elegant mob drama “The Traitor,” is busy with a trio of projects involving personal and also national history, all shepherded by his now regular producer Simone Gattoni.
Gattoni, partner with Bellocchio in Rome’s Kavac Film, and among Variety’s 10 Producers to Watch last year, is riding high after the Davids — “The Traitor” having won six statuettes including best picture and director — and ramping up a robust slate of film and TV projects in various stages, to be directed by a mix of veteran names such as Bellocchio and Gianni Amelio (“Open Doors”), as well as younger, emerging Italian helmers. Most of these projects are being mounted by Kavac in tandem with other prominent Italian and European producers.
The most advanced project on the Kavac slate is Bellocchio’s “L’Urlo” (“The Scream”), a very...
Gattoni, partner with Bellocchio in Rome’s Kavac Film, and among Variety’s 10 Producers to Watch last year, is riding high after the Davids — “The Traitor” having won six statuettes including best picture and director — and ramping up a robust slate of film and TV projects in various stages, to be directed by a mix of veteran names such as Bellocchio and Gianni Amelio (“Open Doors”), as well as younger, emerging Italian helmers. Most of these projects are being mounted by Kavac in tandem with other prominent Italian and European producers.
The most advanced project on the Kavac slate is Bellocchio’s “L’Urlo” (“The Scream”), a very...
- 5/22/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The David di Donatello Awards, which are modeled on the Oscars, were established in the 1950s as Italy’s film industry started thriving amid the country’s postwar reconstruction effort.
Below are some milestones that provide a partial mini-history of postwar Italian cinema.
1956: The first David di Donatello awards ceremony takes place at Rome’s Cinema Fiamma. The gold statuette, which is a replica of Michelangelo’s David, is made by Bulgari. Vittorio De Sica, Walt Disney, and Gina Lollobrigida are among the year’s prizewinners.
1957: The Davids ceremony moves to Taormina’s Ancient Greek Theater, which will host the ceremony for many more years to come. Federico Fellini wins the best director prize for “Nights of Cabiria.”
1958: Anna Magnani wins best actress for George Cukor’s “Wild Is the Wind.” Marilyn Monroe is feted for her role in “The Prince and the Showgirl,” directed by Laurence Olivier.
Below are some milestones that provide a partial mini-history of postwar Italian cinema.
1956: The first David di Donatello awards ceremony takes place at Rome’s Cinema Fiamma. The gold statuette, which is a replica of Michelangelo’s David, is made by Bulgari. Vittorio De Sica, Walt Disney, and Gina Lollobrigida are among the year’s prizewinners.
1957: The Davids ceremony moves to Taormina’s Ancient Greek Theater, which will host the ceremony for many more years to come. Federico Fellini wins the best director prize for “Nights of Cabiria.”
1958: Anna Magnani wins best actress for George Cukor’s “Wild Is the Wind.” Marilyn Monroe is feted for her role in “The Prince and the Showgirl,” directed by Laurence Olivier.
- 5/8/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Italy’s Pepito Prods., at Berlin with competition drama “Bad Tales” by Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo, is emerging as a new home for the country’s auteurs.
The company, headed by former Rai head of drama Agostino Saccà in January, scored more than $6 million in Italian cinemas with veteran Gianni Amelio’s “Hammamet,” a biopic of disgraced late Italian prime minister Bettino Craxi that marks Amelio’s best box office result in a decade.
“Bad Tales,” which world premieres Feb. 25, is the D’Innocenzo brothers’ followup to their debut, “Boy’s Cry.” That bowed in Berlin’s Panorama in 2018.
Giuseppe Saccà, who is a partner in the family-run indie along with his father and sister Maria Grazia, said they were approached by the self-taught directorial duo, now aged 30, with the screenplay for “Boy’s Cry” and were awed by the writing. They decided to take the plunge “even though they had never directed anything before,...
The company, headed by former Rai head of drama Agostino Saccà in January, scored more than $6 million in Italian cinemas with veteran Gianni Amelio’s “Hammamet,” a biopic of disgraced late Italian prime minister Bettino Craxi that marks Amelio’s best box office result in a decade.
“Bad Tales,” which world premieres Feb. 25, is the D’Innocenzo brothers’ followup to their debut, “Boy’s Cry.” That bowed in Berlin’s Panorama in 2018.
Giuseppe Saccà, who is a partner in the family-run indie along with his father and sister Maria Grazia, said they were approached by the self-taught directorial duo, now aged 30, with the screenplay for “Boy’s Cry” and were awed by the writing. They decided to take the plunge “even though they had never directed anything before,...
- 2/25/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The 21st edition of the Neapolitan event is running from 23 September-1 October and will feature tributes to German film, to the New Wave movement and to new Spanish cinema. Nine days dedicated “to all things cinema”, involving upwards of 150 screenings, 30 close encounters with special guests and 5 competitions feeding into the Vesuvio Awards, not to mention a raft of other prizes geared towards ensuring greater visibility for first and second works... The 21st edition of the Napoli Film Festival kicks off today, 23 September, based this year at the Institut Français Napoli, with events also unspooling at the Instituto Cervantes, the Goethe-Institut Neapel and the Castel dell’Ovo. Until 1 October, the Neapolitan event directed by Mario Violini will play host to huge guests along the lines of Pupi Avati and Gianni Amelio, who will be handed the Lifetime Achievement Award; French director Benoît Jacquot, whose most recent...
A comic book about a chameleon-like master thief done as a live-action movie, a reinvention of the Spaghetti Western and a manhunt thriller with a Hollywood A-list cast are among buzz titles by Italian directors in various stages expected to soon be hitting the international festival circuit and, more important, entering the global movie market. Besides a shift toward genre moviemaking, they reflect a more international mindset while remaining firmly rooted in the Italian cinema canon.
“Born To Be Murdered”
Luca Guadagnino is producing this English-language manhunt thriller directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino (“Antonia”), toplining John David Washington and Alicia Vikander as a couple vacationing in Greece who become enmeshed in a tragically violent conspiracy. Pic also boasts “Call Me by Your Name” lenser Sayombhu Mukdeeprom and editor Walter Fasano, as well as Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. In production.
“Bad Days”
Twins Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo, who made a...
“Born To Be Murdered”
Luca Guadagnino is producing this English-language manhunt thriller directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino (“Antonia”), toplining John David Washington and Alicia Vikander as a couple vacationing in Greece who become enmeshed in a tragically violent conspiracy. Pic also boasts “Call Me by Your Name” lenser Sayombhu Mukdeeprom and editor Walter Fasano, as well as Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. In production.
“Bad Days”
Twins Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo, who made a...
- 5/16/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
With most top Italian production companies — Cattleya, Wildside and Palomar — now owned by non-Italian players, and Italian pubcaster Rai also increasingly thinking internationally, cinema Italiano is striving to break out of national confines more than ever.
This means bigger budgets and auteurs turning toward genre — in particular, crime movies and biopics.
Marco Bellocchio’s Cannes competition entry “The Traitor,” which follows Tommaso Buscetta, the first high-ranking member of Cosa Nostra to break the Sicilian Mafia’s oath of silence, is case in point, with an auteur taking on a genre pic.
Buscetta is played by local A-lister Pierfrancesco Favino, who will next be seen as disgraced late Italian socialist prime Bettino Craxi in upcoming biopic “Hammamet,” directed by veteran auteur Gianni Amelio. The title refers to the Tunisian seaside city where Craxi fled from Italian justice in the 1990s after being indicted for massive corruption.
Italian cinema no longer stems “from self-contemplation,...
This means bigger budgets and auteurs turning toward genre — in particular, crime movies and biopics.
Marco Bellocchio’s Cannes competition entry “The Traitor,” which follows Tommaso Buscetta, the first high-ranking member of Cosa Nostra to break the Sicilian Mafia’s oath of silence, is case in point, with an auteur taking on a genre pic.
Buscetta is played by local A-lister Pierfrancesco Favino, who will next be seen as disgraced late Italian socialist prime Bettino Craxi in upcoming biopic “Hammamet,” directed by veteran auteur Gianni Amelio. The title refers to the Tunisian seaside city where Craxi fled from Italian justice in the 1990s after being indicted for massive corruption.
Italian cinema no longer stems “from self-contemplation,...
- 5/16/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Italy’s Minerva Pictures is ramping up its sales side, having acquired international distribution rights to veteran auteur Gianni Amelio’s anticipated “Hammamet,” a biopic of disgraced late Italian prime minister Bettino Craxi. It’s also taken rights to period drama “Aspromonte,” starring Marcello Fonte, winner of last year’s Cannes best actor award for “Dogman.”
“Hammamet,” which portrays Craxi’s final years in the Tunisian seaside villa where he fled from Italian justice, stars Pierfrancesco Favino, who will be in Cannes as the lead actor of Marco Bellocchio’s competition title, “The Traitor.” Now shooting, “Hammamet” is produced by Pepito Prods. and Rai Cinema. Amelio’s previous features include “Lamerica”; “Stolen Children,” which took the Cannes Grand Prix; and “The Way We Laughed,” which won Venice’s Golden Lion.
“Aspromonte” is helmed by Mimmo Calopresti, whose first feature, “The Second Time,” competed in Cannes. Fonte stars as a poet...
“Hammamet,” which portrays Craxi’s final years in the Tunisian seaside villa where he fled from Italian justice, stars Pierfrancesco Favino, who will be in Cannes as the lead actor of Marco Bellocchio’s competition title, “The Traitor.” Now shooting, “Hammamet” is produced by Pepito Prods. and Rai Cinema. Amelio’s previous features include “Lamerica”; “Stolen Children,” which took the Cannes Grand Prix; and “The Way We Laughed,” which won Venice’s Golden Lion.
“Aspromonte” is helmed by Mimmo Calopresti, whose first feature, “The Second Time,” competed in Cannes. Fonte stars as a poet...
- 5/15/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Rome-based Fandango Sales has taken world sales on supernatural drama “The Man Without Gravity” toplining Elio Giordano, who in 2010 for his performance in “Our Life” tied with Javier Bardem for the best actor prize in Cannes and is considered among Italy’s top talents.
Fandango, which is owned by Italian producer Domenico Procacci and operated by Raffaella Di Giulio, will be presenting the pic, now doing its extensive post, to buyers at the Cannes market.
“Man Without Gravity,” which was partly shot on a specially equipped soundstage at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios (pictured), is a rare type of movie for Italy where naturalistic cinema is the norm. The effects are being done in Italy and Belgium.
The pic is being directed by emerging young helmer Marco Bonfanti, whose docs “The Last Shepherd” and “Bozzetto Non Troppo” circulated widely on the fest circuit, here at his fiction feature debut.
Bonfanti calls...
Fandango, which is owned by Italian producer Domenico Procacci and operated by Raffaella Di Giulio, will be presenting the pic, now doing its extensive post, to buyers at the Cannes market.
“Man Without Gravity,” which was partly shot on a specially equipped soundstage at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios (pictured), is a rare type of movie for Italy where naturalistic cinema is the norm. The effects are being done in Italy and Belgium.
The pic is being directed by emerging young helmer Marco Bonfanti, whose docs “The Last Shepherd” and “Bozzetto Non Troppo” circulated widely on the fest circuit, here at his fiction feature debut.
Bonfanti calls...
- 5/8/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Rome — Leading Italian film company Rai Cinema is producing new works by revered Russian auteurs Alexander Sokurov and Andrei Konchalovsky, as well as a slew of new titles from prominent Italian helmers Gabriele Salvatores and Gianni Amelio and younger standouts Jonas Carpignano and Susanna Nicchiarelli.
The production and distribution arm of pubcaster Rai has teamed up with the Sokurov Foundation on an unconventional historical work featuring rare archive footage of Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini and Churchill captured in non-official circumstances. These leaders will hold imaginary conversations during World War II that reveal their “human nature, their vision of the world” and their personal takes of wartime events, according to Rai Cinema promotional materials.
This latest work by the director who explored the corrupting effects of power in “Moloch” (1999), about Hitler, and “Taurus” (2000), about Lenin, and who more recently shot “Russian Ark” and “Francofonia,” is working-titled “La risata tra le lacrime” in Italian,...
The production and distribution arm of pubcaster Rai has teamed up with the Sokurov Foundation on an unconventional historical work featuring rare archive footage of Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini and Churchill captured in non-official circumstances. These leaders will hold imaginary conversations during World War II that reveal their “human nature, their vision of the world” and their personal takes of wartime events, according to Rai Cinema promotional materials.
This latest work by the director who explored the corrupting effects of power in “Moloch” (1999), about Hitler, and “Taurus” (2000), about Lenin, and who more recently shot “Russian Ark” and “Francofonia,” is working-titled “La risata tra le lacrime” in Italian,...
- 4/11/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
In a ceremony dominated by gender inequality speeches most of the awards went to box office disappointments.
The Manetti brothers’ Love And Bullets won five prizes at the 62nd David di Donatello awards – Italy’s equivilent to the Oscars – after starting the evening with 15 nominations.
The musical crime comedy, which first premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival, was awarded for best film, best actress in a supporting role, best score, best original song and best costumes.
Susanna Nicchiarelli’s Nico, 1988, which also premiered in Venice winning the Orizzonti competition, got four awards; best original screenplay, best sound, best make-up and best hairdressing.
The Manetti brothers’ Love And Bullets won five prizes at the 62nd David di Donatello awards – Italy’s equivilent to the Oscars – after starting the evening with 15 nominations.
The musical crime comedy, which first premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival, was awarded for best film, best actress in a supporting role, best score, best original song and best costumes.
Susanna Nicchiarelli’s Nico, 1988, which also premiered in Venice winning the Orizzonti competition, got four awards; best original screenplay, best sound, best make-up and best hairdressing.
- 3/22/2018
- by Gabriele Niola
- ScreenDaily
In a ceremony dominated by gender inequality speeches most of the awards went to box office disappointments.
The Manetti brothers’ Love And Bullets won five prizes at the 62nd David di Donatello awards – Italy’s equivilent to the Oscars – after starting the evening with 15 nominations.
The musical crime comedy, which first premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival, was awarded for best film, best actress in a supporting role, best score, best original song and best costumes.
Susanna Nicchiarelli’s Nico, 1988, which also premiered in Venice winning the Orizzonti competition, got four awards; best original screenplay, best sound, best make-up and best hairdressing.
The Manetti brothers’ Love And Bullets won five prizes at the 62nd David di Donatello awards – Italy’s equivilent to the Oscars – after starting the evening with 15 nominations.
The musical crime comedy, which first premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival, was awarded for best film, best actress in a supporting role, best score, best original song and best costumes.
Susanna Nicchiarelli’s Nico, 1988, which also premiered in Venice winning the Orizzonti competition, got four awards; best original screenplay, best sound, best make-up and best hairdressing.
- 3/22/2018
- by Gabriele Niola
- ScreenDaily
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