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
Elizabeth Banks Pic Sells For Protagonist
Protagonist Pictures has closed multiple deals on Phyllis Nagy’s Sundance and Berlin title Call Jane, starring Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara and Chris Messina. Deals include Dcm for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Umbrella Entertainment for Australia and New Zealand, Mis.label for Scandinavia, Eagle for Italy, Shaw for Singapore and Empire for South Africa. Roadside Attractions acquired U.S. distribution rights to Nagy’s directorial debut following its launch at Sundance. The film had already sold well internationally. In Call Jane, Joy (Banks), a traditional 1960s housewife, unexpectedly falls pregnant. She then finds the Janes, an underground abortion movement led by Virginia (Weaver). The group saves her life and gives her a sense of purpose: to help other women take control of their destinies.
The Pantani Affair Inks U.S. & France Deals
Exclusive: Iuvit Media Sales has closed deals for drama The...
Protagonist Pictures has closed multiple deals on Phyllis Nagy’s Sundance and Berlin title Call Jane, starring Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara and Chris Messina. Deals include Dcm for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Umbrella Entertainment for Australia and New Zealand, Mis.label for Scandinavia, Eagle for Italy, Shaw for Singapore and Empire for South Africa. Roadside Attractions acquired U.S. distribution rights to Nagy’s directorial debut following its launch at Sundance. The film had already sold well internationally. In Call Jane, Joy (Banks), a traditional 1960s housewife, unexpectedly falls pregnant. She then finds the Janes, an underground abortion movement led by Virginia (Weaver). The group saves her life and gives her a sense of purpose: to help other women take control of their destinies.
The Pantani Affair Inks U.S. & France Deals
Exclusive: Iuvit Media Sales has closed deals for drama The...
- 2/11/2022
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The Pantani Affair Gets International & U.S. Sales Deals
Exclusive: The Pantani Affair (Il Caso Pantani), about iconic Italian cyclist Marco Pantani, is launching for international sales at the virtual EFM via Italian firm Iuvit Media Sales. The biographical drama, written, directed and produced by filmmaker and Mr.Arkadin Film founder Domenico Ciolfi (Passaggio A Vuoto), explores the last five years of champion cyclist Marco Pantani’s life, including the events surrounding a doping scandal during the 1999 Giro d’Italia and the beloved sportsman’s tragic death in 2004, at the age of 34. The film is one of the many in consideration for this year’s David Di Donatello awards, which opened its nominations to all movies released via streaming due to the pandemic. Three different actors play Pantani: Marco Palvetti (Gomorrah), Brenno Placido (Romanzo Criminale) and Fabrizio Rongione (Two Days). The film also stars Libero De Rienzo (The Two Popes...
Exclusive: The Pantani Affair (Il Caso Pantani), about iconic Italian cyclist Marco Pantani, is launching for international sales at the virtual EFM via Italian firm Iuvit Media Sales. The biographical drama, written, directed and produced by filmmaker and Mr.Arkadin Film founder Domenico Ciolfi (Passaggio A Vuoto), explores the last five years of champion cyclist Marco Pantani’s life, including the events surrounding a doping scandal during the 1999 Giro d’Italia and the beloved sportsman’s tragic death in 2004, at the age of 34. The film is one of the many in consideration for this year’s David Di Donatello awards, which opened its nominations to all movies released via streaming due to the pandemic. Three different actors play Pantani: Marco Palvetti (Gomorrah), Brenno Placido (Romanzo Criminale) and Fabrizio Rongione (Two Days). The film also stars Libero De Rienzo (The Two Popes...
- 3/4/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Name and focus changes for every section, which are now all competitive, resulting in the festival’s structure being “slimmer’.
The ninth Rome Film Festival (Oct 16-25) has revealed a diverse line-up including the Italian premieres for potential awards contenders including David Fincher’s Gone Girl. the world premiere of Takashi Miike’s As the Gods Will and Burhan Qurbani’s We are Young, We are Strong and European premiere of Oren Moverman’s Time Out of Mind, Toronto hit Still Alice and Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet.
This year for the first time the award-winners in each section of the programme will be decided by the audience on the basis of votes cast after the screenings.
Each section has changed name and focus for 2014 and are all competitive, resulting in the festival’s structure being “slimmer’.
Italian comedies Soap Opera and Andiamo a Quel Paese bookend the line-up.
Full line-up
Cinema D’Oggi
World premiere
• Angely...
The ninth Rome Film Festival (Oct 16-25) has revealed a diverse line-up including the Italian premieres for potential awards contenders including David Fincher’s Gone Girl. the world premiere of Takashi Miike’s As the Gods Will and Burhan Qurbani’s We are Young, We are Strong and European premiere of Oren Moverman’s Time Out of Mind, Toronto hit Still Alice and Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet.
This year for the first time the award-winners in each section of the programme will be decided by the audience on the basis of votes cast after the screenings.
Each section has changed name and focus for 2014 and are all competitive, resulting in the festival’s structure being “slimmer’.
Italian comedies Soap Opera and Andiamo a Quel Paese bookend the line-up.
Full line-up
Cinema D’Oggi
World premiere
• Angely...
- 9/29/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Chicago – Matteo Garrone’s revelatory crime picture joins the esteemed group of worthy foreign film Oscar contenders (like “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”) inexplicably snubbed by the Academy. But such accolades are meaningless compared to the reaction it has received, breaking box office records in its limited release, while acquiring the passionate support of film icons like Martin Scorsese. It has gained a reputation for being the “ultimate Mafia movie” (even though it’s actually about a different crime family), besting everything from “The Godfather” and “GoodFellas” to “The Sopranos.”
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Yet Garrone doesn’t even attempt to mimic the larger-than-life style and scope of Coppola or Scorsese, and his film achieves an entirely different kind of greatness, stripping away any shred of romanticism or artifice to reveal the primal horror lying behind scenes of deceptively mundane life. His film also has the distinction of being set in modern-day Italy,...
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Yet Garrone doesn’t even attempt to mimic the larger-than-life style and scope of Coppola or Scorsese, and his film achieves an entirely different kind of greatness, stripping away any shred of romanticism or artifice to reveal the primal horror lying behind scenes of deceptively mundane life. His film also has the distinction of being set in modern-day Italy,...
- 12/1/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
In my "B" review of Gomorrah last December I opened saying "its dedication to [Roberto Saviano's non-fiction story] causes the film to lack focus as it spreads itself too thin by telling five separate stories." After seeing it a second time I still stand by this statement, but not as adamantly as I did before. A repeat viewing benefits this film greatly and Criterion's Blu-ray presentation is slick and engrossing, even if the supplemental material can go on a little too long.
As a film we are witness to the world of guns, drugs, illegal toxic waste disposal and even haute couture, all involving organized crime in Naples. The organization, known as the Camorra, is wrapped up not only in illegal activities, but they reinvest their money in legal activities, which is expanded on in the included interviews on this disc, which also stress the hot bed of trouble that found author Roberto Saviano...
As a film we are witness to the world of guns, drugs, illegal toxic waste disposal and even haute couture, all involving organized crime in Naples. The organization, known as the Camorra, is wrapped up not only in illegal activities, but they reinvest their money in legal activities, which is expanded on in the included interviews on this disc, which also stress the hot bed of trouble that found author Roberto Saviano...
- 11/24/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Criterion has announced the specifications and special features for their upcoming release of Matteo Garrone's brilliant Italian gangster drama Gomorrah. The film will come out on November 24th as a 2 disc DVD and single disc Blu-Ray, both with a suggested retail price of $39.95. Each will include a new high-definition transfer supervised and approved by Garrone, a 60-minute "Five Stories" documentary on the making of Gomorrah, new video interviews with Garrone and actor Toni Servillo, interviews with writer Roberto Saviano and actors Gianfelice Imparato, deleted scenes, and the theatrical trailer. A booklet featuring an essay by critic Chuck Stephens will also be included.
- 10/3/2009
- 24framespersecond.net
Release Date: Dec. 19 (limited), Feb. 13
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writers: Roberto Saviano, Garrone, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Cinematographer: Marco Onorato
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 137 mins.
A bureaucracy of blood, Italian-indie style
Gomorrah’s portrait of Italy’s Camorra crime family is more a Fast Food Nation-style exposé of a teeming criminal ecosystem than a typical mob drama. Powered by several parallel plots corresponding to the family’s interests (drugs, textile manufacturing, waste disposal, weapon running, etc.), the Camorras recall a massive, barely functioning bureaucracy whose internal conflicts happen to be frequently (and efficiently) resolved with insane carnage, both emotional and bodily. There’s a mid-level manager (Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro, proud to work every day in a tie), an Hr department (systematically testing adolescent recruits by decking them with bulletproof vests and shooting) and plenty of corporate politics.
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writers: Roberto Saviano, Garrone, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Cinematographer: Marco Onorato
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 137 mins.
A bureaucracy of blood, Italian-indie style
Gomorrah’s portrait of Italy’s Camorra crime family is more a Fast Food Nation-style exposé of a teeming criminal ecosystem than a typical mob drama. Powered by several parallel plots corresponding to the family’s interests (drugs, textile manufacturing, waste disposal, weapon running, etc.), the Camorras recall a massive, barely functioning bureaucracy whose internal conflicts happen to be frequently (and efficiently) resolved with insane carnage, both emotional and bodily. There’s a mid-level manager (Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro, proud to work every day in a tie), an Hr department (systematically testing adolescent recruits by decking them with bulletproof vests and shooting) and plenty of corporate politics.
- 2/12/2009
- Pastemagazine.com
Release Date: Dec. 19 (limited), Feb. 13
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writers: Roberto Saviano, Garrone, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Cinematographer: Marco Onorato
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 137 mins.
A bureaucracy of blood, Italian-indie style
Gomorrah’s portrait of Italy’s Camorra crime family is more a Fast Food Nation-style exposé of a teeming criminal ecosystem than a typical mob drama. Powered by several parallel plots corresponding to the family’s interests (drugs, textile manufacturing, waste disposal, weapon running, etc.), the Camorras recall a massive, barely functioning bureaucracy whose internal conflicts happen to be frequently (and efficiently) resolved with insane carnage, both emotional and bodily. There’s a mid-level manager (Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro, proud to work every day in a tie), an Hr department (systematically testing adolescent recruits by decking them with bulletproof vests and shooting) and plenty of corporate politics.
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writers: Roberto Saviano, Garrone, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Cinematographer: Marco Onorato
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 137 mins.
A bureaucracy of blood, Italian-indie style
Gomorrah’s portrait of Italy’s Camorra crime family is more a Fast Food Nation-style exposé of a teeming criminal ecosystem than a typical mob drama. Powered by several parallel plots corresponding to the family’s interests (drugs, textile manufacturing, waste disposal, weapon running, etc.), the Camorras recall a massive, barely functioning bureaucracy whose internal conflicts happen to be frequently (and efficiently) resolved with insane carnage, both emotional and bodily. There’s a mid-level manager (Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro, proud to work every day in a tie), an Hr department (systematically testing adolescent recruits by decking them with bulletproof vests and shooting) and plenty of corporate politics.
- 12/15/2008
- Pastemagazine.com
Gomorrah Director/Country/Time: Matteo Garrone, Italy, 135 min. Cast: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo Program: Special Presentations Headline: The mafia ruins everything Noel's Take: If you've been watching cable TV over the past 10 years, you won't need this sprawling neo-realist portrait of modern Neapolitan organized crime to tell you that being a gangster is neither romantic nor all that lucrative; and you'll probably also be fairly familiar with Gomorrah's depiction of how unchecked criminality can stain every aspect of a community's life. And yet you've probably never seen these points made in quite the way they're made in Gomorrah, a doggedly unglamorous movie that eschews any conventional notion of colorful bad guy "characters." There's no Jimmy The Eel or Billy Knuckles here for us to admire on the sly—just a bunch of self-involved thugs and complicit civilians...
- 9/11/2008
- by Scott Tobias, Noel Murray
- avclub.com
Film Review: Gomorra, Cannes, In Competition
Powerful, stripped to its very essence and featuring a spectacular cast (of mostly non-professionals), Matteo Garrone's sixth feature film "Gomorra" goes beyond Tarrantino's gratuitous violence and even Scorsese's Hollywood sensibility in depicting the everyday reality of organized crime's foot soldiers. The characters of the film's five stories all work for the Camorra - the Neapolitan "mafia" behind over 4,000 murders in 30 years in Italy, and countless illegal activities - and besides being extremely dangerous are relentless, petty and anything but wise.
Success at home is virtually guaranteed for "Gomorra" as it's based on Roberto Saviano's eponymous 2006 bestseller (1.2 million copies sold, translated into 33 languages) and the build-up to its release along with selection in competition at Cannes have created a huge buzz in Italy. Internationally, the film has sold to a handful of European territories so far, as well as Canada, though buyers are expected to grow significantly after Cannes.
"Gomorra" is one of the rare dramatic films to come out of Italy in recent years that has the appeal to play well theatrically, at least in Europe, and in festivals worldwide. In the U.S., it should play to the widest possible range of Art House audiences looking for a thinking person's mafia movie.
At times slow and documentary-like, "Gomorra" is tension-filled and highly realistic. (Author and co-screenwriter Saviano, 29, has been under police escort even since the book was published.) Shot predominantly in Naples' Scampia neighborhood - an architectural nightmare of enormous rundown apartment blocks - the film never caters to those looking for the kind of adrenaline or over-the-top humor or glamor that's come to be associated with the genre.
Garrone neither judges nor idolizes in his sober approach, and restrains from too many other indulgences, artistic or formulaic, beyond handheld camera work and numerous close-ups. And the faces he chooses, predominantly people plucked from the streets on which he films, make most movie mafiosos look like models.
Even the film's soundtrack (Neapolitan pop music, sparingly used) adds to the overall feel of background rather than imposing a mood. Garrone also makes use of total silence and, rather than coming across as a manipulative film school trick, it only enhances particularly emotional scenes.
Apart from the film's most notable star, Toni Servillo, other standout performances come from Gianfelice Imparatore, Salvatore Cantalupo, Carmine Paternoster and 13-year-old Salvatore Abruzzese.
Cast: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo, Gigio Morra, Salvatore Abruzzese, Marco Macor, Ciro Petrone, Carmine Paternoster. Director: Matteo Garrone. Screenwriters: Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Roberto Saviano. Producer: Domenico Procacci. Director of photography: Marco Onorato. Production designer: Paolo Bonfini. Costume designer: Alessandra Cardini. Editor: Marco Spoletini.
Production companies: Fandango, RAI Cinema
Sales Agent: Fandango Portobello Sales
No MPAA rating, 135 minutes.
Powerful, stripped to its very essence and featuring a spectacular cast (of mostly non-professionals), Matteo Garrone's sixth feature film "Gomorra" goes beyond Tarrantino's gratuitous violence and even Scorsese's Hollywood sensibility in depicting the everyday reality of organized crime's foot soldiers. The characters of the film's five stories all work for the Camorra - the Neapolitan "mafia" behind over 4,000 murders in 30 years in Italy, and countless illegal activities - and besides being extremely dangerous are relentless, petty and anything but wise.
Success at home is virtually guaranteed for "Gomorra" as it's based on Roberto Saviano's eponymous 2006 bestseller (1.2 million copies sold, translated into 33 languages) and the build-up to its release along with selection in competition at Cannes have created a huge buzz in Italy. Internationally, the film has sold to a handful of European territories so far, as well as Canada, though buyers are expected to grow significantly after Cannes.
"Gomorra" is one of the rare dramatic films to come out of Italy in recent years that has the appeal to play well theatrically, at least in Europe, and in festivals worldwide. In the U.S., it should play to the widest possible range of Art House audiences looking for a thinking person's mafia movie.
At times slow and documentary-like, "Gomorra" is tension-filled and highly realistic. (Author and co-screenwriter Saviano, 29, has been under police escort even since the book was published.) Shot predominantly in Naples' Scampia neighborhood - an architectural nightmare of enormous rundown apartment blocks - the film never caters to those looking for the kind of adrenaline or over-the-top humor or glamor that's come to be associated with the genre.
Garrone neither judges nor idolizes in his sober approach, and restrains from too many other indulgences, artistic or formulaic, beyond handheld camera work and numerous close-ups. And the faces he chooses, predominantly people plucked from the streets on which he films, make most movie mafiosos look like models.
Even the film's soundtrack (Neapolitan pop music, sparingly used) adds to the overall feel of background rather than imposing a mood. Garrone also makes use of total silence and, rather than coming across as a manipulative film school trick, it only enhances particularly emotional scenes.
Apart from the film's most notable star, Toni Servillo, other standout performances come from Gianfelice Imparatore, Salvatore Cantalupo, Carmine Paternoster and 13-year-old Salvatore Abruzzese.
Cast: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo, Gigio Morra, Salvatore Abruzzese, Marco Macor, Ciro Petrone, Carmine Paternoster. Director: Matteo Garrone. Screenwriters: Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Roberto Saviano. Producer: Domenico Procacci. Director of photography: Marco Onorato. Production designer: Paolo Bonfini. Costume designer: Alessandra Cardini. Editor: Marco Spoletini.
Production companies: Fandango, RAI Cinema
Sales Agent: Fandango Portobello Sales
No MPAA rating, 135 minutes.
- 5/17/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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