Italian actress and screenwriter Paola Cortellesi’s directorial feature debut, There’s Still Tomorrow (C’è Ancora Domani), and Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano lead nominations at this year’s David Di Donatello Awards.
There’s Still Tomorrow nabbed 19 noms, including best film while Io Capitano landed 15, including best director for Garrone. Trailing the leading two is Alice Rohrwacher’s latest film, La Chimera, starring Josh O’Connor. Other leading films are Rapito (11), Comandante (10), Il Sol Dell’avvenire (7), and Adagio (5).
The 69th David di Donatello Awards take place May 3. The live show will be broadcast on Rai 1 in Italy. This year’s hosts include Carlo Conti and Alessia Marcuzzi. The ceremony will take place at the legendary Cinecittà studios.
Check out the full list of nominees below:
Best Film
C’È Ancora DOMANIprodotto da Mario Gianani e Lorenzo Gangarossa per Wildside società del gruppo Fremantle; Vision Distribution società del gruppo Sky; in collaborazione...
There’s Still Tomorrow nabbed 19 noms, including best film while Io Capitano landed 15, including best director for Garrone. Trailing the leading two is Alice Rohrwacher’s latest film, La Chimera, starring Josh O’Connor. Other leading films are Rapito (11), Comandante (10), Il Sol Dell’avvenire (7), and Adagio (5).
The 69th David di Donatello Awards take place May 3. The live show will be broadcast on Rai 1 in Italy. This year’s hosts include Carlo Conti and Alessia Marcuzzi. The ceremony will take place at the legendary Cinecittà studios.
Check out the full list of nominees below:
Best Film
C’È Ancora DOMANIprodotto da Mario Gianani e Lorenzo Gangarossa per Wildside società del gruppo Fremantle; Vision Distribution società del gruppo Sky; in collaborazione...
- 4/3/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The Match Factory handles international sales.
Marco Bellocchio’s Kidnapped has secured multiple international sales since world premiering in Competition at Cannes, including a deal to Curzon for the UK and Ireland.
Earlier this month, sales company The Match Factory announced it had sold film to Cohen Media for North American.
The Match Factory has since secured deals in: United Kingdom and Ireland (Curzon), Australia and New Zealand (Palace Entertainment), Japan (Fine Films), Latin America (Cine Video y TV), Spain (Vertigo Films), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Switzerland (Agora Films), Poland (Best Film), Portugal (Alambique), Greece and Cyprus (Rosebud.21), Czech Republic and...
Marco Bellocchio’s Kidnapped has secured multiple international sales since world premiering in Competition at Cannes, including a deal to Curzon for the UK and Ireland.
Earlier this month, sales company The Match Factory announced it had sold film to Cohen Media for North American.
The Match Factory has since secured deals in: United Kingdom and Ireland (Curzon), Australia and New Zealand (Palace Entertainment), Japan (Fine Films), Latin America (Cine Video y TV), Spain (Vertigo Films), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Switzerland (Agora Films), Poland (Best Film), Portugal (Alambique), Greece and Cyprus (Rosebud.21), Czech Republic and...
- 6/22/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Following the announcement of the North American acquisition by Cohen Media, The Match Factory has revealed further sales in key territories for Marco Bellocchio’s Cannes Competition title “Kidnapped.”
The film adapts the true story of the kidnapping of the young Jewish boy Edgardo Mortara, starring Paolo Pierobon, Fausto Russo Alesi, Barbara Ronchi, Enea Sala and Leonardo Maltese.
The film has its release secured in the following territories: U.K. and Ireland (Curzon), Australia and New Zealand (Palace Entertainment), Japan (Fine Films), Latin America (Cine Video y TV), Spain (Vertigo Films), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Switzerland (Agora Films), Poland (Best Film), Portugal (Alambique), Greece and Cyprus (Rosebud.21), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Aerofilms), Ex-Yugoslavia (McF Megacom), Hungary (Vertigo Media), Baltics (Kino Pavasaris), Bulgaria (Art Fest), Israel (United King Video), Ukraine (Traffic Films), Taiwan (Light Year Images) and Indonesia (Falcon Pictures). Further territories are in negotiation.
The film is a production by Ibc Movie...
The film adapts the true story of the kidnapping of the young Jewish boy Edgardo Mortara, starring Paolo Pierobon, Fausto Russo Alesi, Barbara Ronchi, Enea Sala and Leonardo Maltese.
The film has its release secured in the following territories: U.K. and Ireland (Curzon), Australia and New Zealand (Palace Entertainment), Japan (Fine Films), Latin America (Cine Video y TV), Spain (Vertigo Films), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Switzerland (Agora Films), Poland (Best Film), Portugal (Alambique), Greece and Cyprus (Rosebud.21), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Aerofilms), Ex-Yugoslavia (McF Megacom), Hungary (Vertigo Media), Baltics (Kino Pavasaris), Bulgaria (Art Fest), Israel (United King Video), Ukraine (Traffic Films), Taiwan (Light Year Images) and Indonesia (Falcon Pictures). Further territories are in negotiation.
The film is a production by Ibc Movie...
- 6/22/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
“Kidnapped,” the new feature film from Marco Bellocchio, has been acquired for domestic distribution by Cohen Media Group, TheWrap has confirmed.
The drama, which played in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, concerns a young Jewish boy who, after being secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby, is abducted and raised Christian in 19th Century Italy.
The picture debuted to mostly positive reviews (76% fresh and an average critic rating of 7/10 on Rotten Tomatoes), with TheWrap’s Ben Croll noting that the film “doesn’t so much pit one faith against another, casting oppressors against oppressed; instead, the film sets individuals against larger institutions.” It has earned $1.14 million in Italy since opening there in late May.
Marco Bellocchio, along with his contemporaries Bernardo Bertolucci and Pier Paolo Pasolini, helped redefine Italian and world cinema in the 1960s and beyond. He created the landmark films “Fists in the Pocket,...
The drama, which played in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, concerns a young Jewish boy who, after being secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby, is abducted and raised Christian in 19th Century Italy.
The picture debuted to mostly positive reviews (76% fresh and an average critic rating of 7/10 on Rotten Tomatoes), with TheWrap’s Ben Croll noting that the film “doesn’t so much pit one faith against another, casting oppressors against oppressed; instead, the film sets individuals against larger institutions.” It has earned $1.14 million in Italy since opening there in late May.
Marco Bellocchio, along with his contemporaries Bernardo Bertolucci and Pier Paolo Pasolini, helped redefine Italian and world cinema in the 1960s and beyond. He created the landmark films “Fists in the Pocket,...
- 6/9/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for Marco Bellocchio’s “Kidnapped” (Rapito), which has its world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film starts in 1858 in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, when the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education.
Edgardo’s parents, distraught, will do anything to get their son back. Supported by public opinion and the international Jewish community, the Mortaras’ struggle quickly takes a political dimension. But the Church and the Pope will not agree to return the child, to consolidate an increasingly wavering power.
The film stars Paolo Pierobon, Fausto Russo Alesi, Barbara Ronchi, Enea Sala (as the...
The film starts in 1858 in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, when the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education.
Edgardo’s parents, distraught, will do anything to get their son back. Supported by public opinion and the international Jewish community, the Mortaras’ struggle quickly takes a political dimension. But the Church and the Pope will not agree to return the child, to consolidate an increasingly wavering power.
The film stars Paolo Pierobon, Fausto Russo Alesi, Barbara Ronchi, Enea Sala (as the...
- 5/3/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- 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
Shooting has begun in Roccabianca in the province of Parma, Italy, on Marco Bellocchio’s new film, “La Conversione” (The Conversion), inspired by the story of Edgardo Mortara, the Jewish child who in 1858 was removed from his family to be raised as a Catholic in the custody of Pope Pius IX. Bellocchio is pictured, above, on set in Roccabianca this week.
“La Conversione” stars Paolo Pierobon, Barbara Ronchi, Fausto Russo Alesi, Filippo Timi, Fabrizio Gifuni, Enea Sala, playing Mortara as a child, and Leonardo Maltese, playing Mortara as an older boy.
The film is an IBCmovie and Kavac Film production with Rai Cinema, with the support of the Emilia Romagna region and its film commission, in co-production with Ad Vitam Production in France, and Match Factory Productions in Germany. It is produced by Beppe Caschetto and Simone Gattoni.
The screenplay is by Bellocchio and Susanna Nicchiarelli, with the collaboration of Edoardo Albinati and Daniela Ceselli,...
“La Conversione” stars Paolo Pierobon, Barbara Ronchi, Fausto Russo Alesi, Filippo Timi, Fabrizio Gifuni, Enea Sala, playing Mortara as a child, and Leonardo Maltese, playing Mortara as an older boy.
The film is an IBCmovie and Kavac Film production with Rai Cinema, with the support of the Emilia Romagna region and its film commission, in co-production with Ad Vitam Production in France, and Match Factory Productions in Germany. It is produced by Beppe Caschetto and Simone Gattoni.
The screenplay is by Bellocchio and Susanna Nicchiarelli, with the collaboration of Edoardo Albinati and Daniela Ceselli,...
- 7/1/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Marco Bellocchio, who is in Cannes with TV series “Esterno Notte” about the kidnapping and assassination of former Italian premier Aldo Moro by Red Brigades terrorists, is set to return behind camera in late June.
The veteran Italian auteur and Cannes aficionado will reconstruct the true tale of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy who was kidnapped and forcibly raised as a Christian in 19th century Italy.
Mortara was a young Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, who in 1858, after being secretly baptized, was forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents’ struggle to free their son became part of a larger political battle that pitted the papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification. Mortara went on to become a priest in the Augustinian order.
It’s a story that Steven Spielberg had his eye on, having announced in 2016 that he would make a...
The veteran Italian auteur and Cannes aficionado will reconstruct the true tale of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy who was kidnapped and forcibly raised as a Christian in 19th century Italy.
Mortara was a young Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, who in 1858, after being secretly baptized, was forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents’ struggle to free their son became part of a larger political battle that pitted the papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification. Mortara went on to become a priest in the Augustinian order.
It’s a story that Steven Spielberg had his eye on, having announced in 2016 that he would make a...
- 5/18/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Antonia Nava’s Barcelona-based Neo Art Producciones has teamed with Rome’s Pupkin Production to co-produce gay romantic drama “Si las paredes hablasen” (“If Walls Had Ears”), the feature debut of Spanish femme director, Ceres Machado.
Scheduled to roll by this year-end or the first quarter of 2023 in Barcelona and Rome, the film will be produced by Nava and Pupkin’s Rita Rognoni.
Spanish actor Fernando Tejero is attached to star in a cast that will combine Spanish and Italian actors.
Co-written by Machado and scribe Salva Martos Cortés (“Maniac Tales”), “If Walls had Ears” will narrate, in 10 sequences, a Barcelona and Rome-set story of intense love, passion and pain between two men.
They are Juan, a 50 year-old married man who hides his homosexuality, and Leonardo, a 23-year Italian who arrives in Barcelona to try his luck as a soccer player.
Over a decade, they will live their romance, but...
Scheduled to roll by this year-end or the first quarter of 2023 in Barcelona and Rome, the film will be produced by Nava and Pupkin’s Rita Rognoni.
Spanish actor Fernando Tejero is attached to star in a cast that will combine Spanish and Italian actors.
Co-written by Machado and scribe Salva Martos Cortés (“Maniac Tales”), “If Walls had Ears” will narrate, in 10 sequences, a Barcelona and Rome-set story of intense love, passion and pain between two men.
They are Juan, a 50 year-old married man who hides his homosexuality, and Leonardo, a 23-year Italian who arrives in Barcelona to try his luck as a soccer player.
Over a decade, they will live their romance, but...
- 3/24/2022
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to “Marx Can Wait” by Italian film master Marco Bellocchio, who received the honorary Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Represented in international markets by The Match Factory, “Marx Can Wait” is a moving and personal family tale exploring how the suicide of his twin brother Camillo shaped Bellocchio’s life and body of work. The documentary played at New York Film Festival and is eligible for this year’s Academy Awards.
In “Marx Can Wait,” Bellocchio tackles the trauma of Camillo’s death and invites family members to present their memories of his twin brother. The narrative and observational documentary shows how this loss has loomed over Bellocchio’s work like an unexpressed taboo marked by guilt, remorse and longing.
“We’re so thrilled to be partnering once again with The Match Factory and with Bellocchio on this beautiful,...
Represented in international markets by The Match Factory, “Marx Can Wait” is a moving and personal family tale exploring how the suicide of his twin brother Camillo shaped Bellocchio’s life and body of work. The documentary played at New York Film Festival and is eligible for this year’s Academy Awards.
In “Marx Can Wait,” Bellocchio tackles the trauma of Camillo’s death and invites family members to present their memories of his twin brother. The narrative and observational documentary shows how this loss has loomed over Bellocchio’s work like an unexpressed taboo marked by guilt, remorse and longing.
“We’re so thrilled to be partnering once again with The Match Factory and with Bellocchio on this beautiful,...
- 11/22/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety 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
Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio (“The Traitor”) is set to reconstruct the true-life drama of Edgardo Mortara, a Jewish boy kidnapped and converted to Catholicism in 1858. It’s a story that Steven Spielberg was in advanced stages to bring to the screen a few years ago.
Mortara was a young Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, who in 1858, after being secretly baptized, was forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents’ struggle to free their son became part of a larger political battle that pitted the papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification. Mortara went on to become a priest in the Augustinian order.
Unlike Spielberg — who announced his Mortara drama in 2014 based on a book by U.S. academic David Kertzer — Bellocchio is basing his pic, titled “La conversione” (“The Conversion”), on first-hand documents. Spielberg’s project reportedly lost steam after he was unable...
Mortara was a young Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, who in 1858, after being secretly baptized, was forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents’ struggle to free their son became part of a larger political battle that pitted the papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification. Mortara went on to become a priest in the Augustinian order.
Unlike Spielberg — who announced his Mortara drama in 2014 based on a book by U.S. academic David Kertzer — Bellocchio is basing his pic, titled “La conversione” (“The Conversion”), on first-hand documents. Spielberg’s project reportedly lost steam after he was unable...
- 2/26/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Leading arthouse sales and production house The Match Factory and Italian film director Pietro Marcello have teamed up for the third time following the company’s acquisition of his documentary “Per Lucio,” which world premieres in the Berlinale Special Gala section of the Berlin Film Festival.
They previously worked together on fantasy drama “Lost and Beautiful,” which played in competition at Locarno in 2015, and period drama “Martin Eden,” which competed at Venice in 2019, winning best actor, and screened at Toronto, where it won the Platform Award. “Martin Eden” was picked up by distributors around the world, and attracted more than 400,000 admissions across Europe.
Marcello’s debut feature-length documentary, “Crossing the Line,” screened in Venice’s Orizzonti section in 2007, and his documentary “The Mouth of the Wolf” was selected for the Berlin’s Forum section in 2010, winning the Teddy Award and the Caligari Film Prize.
In “Per Lucio,” Marcello portrays the...
They previously worked together on fantasy drama “Lost and Beautiful,” which played in competition at Locarno in 2015, and period drama “Martin Eden,” which competed at Venice in 2019, winning best actor, and screened at Toronto, where it won the Platform Award. “Martin Eden” was picked up by distributors around the world, and attracted more than 400,000 admissions across Europe.
Marcello’s debut feature-length documentary, “Crossing the Line,” screened in Venice’s Orizzonti section in 2007, and his documentary “The Mouth of the Wolf” was selected for the Berlin’s Forum section in 2010, winning the Teddy Award and the Caligari Film Prize.
In “Per Lucio,” Marcello portrays the...
- 2/22/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The Gotham Awards for the best in independent film kicked off this unusual awards season on Monday night, January 11. Presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project, these kudos are usually handed out in early December but were pushed back (as were many awards events) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. So who won? Scroll down for the complete list of winners, updated live as they were announced.
SEEGotham nominee John Magaro (‘First Cow’) on how Cookie and King-Lu are ‘almost soulmates’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
These awards are limited to American films (apart from Best International Feature ) made with an economy of means, which means no budgets higher than $35 million. Nominees and winners were decided by juries of film experts and insiders. And for the first time in the awards’ history, all five of the nominees for Best Feature were directed by women: “The Assistant” by Kitty Green, “First Cow” by Kelly Reichardt, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” by Eliza Hittman,...
SEEGotham nominee John Magaro (‘First Cow’) on how Cookie and King-Lu are ‘almost soulmates’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
These awards are limited to American films (apart from Best International Feature ) made with an economy of means, which means no budgets higher than $35 million. Nominees and winners were decided by juries of film experts and insiders. And for the first time in the awards’ history, all five of the nominees for Best Feature were directed by women: “The Assistant” by Kitty Green, “First Cow” by Kelly Reichardt, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” by Eliza Hittman,...
- 1/12/2021
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
‘Nomadland’ and ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ secure two nominations each.
Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow leads the nominations for the 30th IFP Gotham Awards, in which the nods for best feature are all directed by women.
Period drama First Cow, first seen at Telluride 2019 and released by A24, secured four nominations for best feature, screenplay and actor, for John Magaro, as well as breakthrough actor, for Orion Lee.
Scroll down for full list of nominations
Titles that scored two nominations included Chloe Zhao’s Venice Golden Lion winner Nomadland, for best feature and actress Frances McDormand; and Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always,...
Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow leads the nominations for the 30th IFP Gotham Awards, in which the nods for best feature are all directed by women.
Period drama First Cow, first seen at Telluride 2019 and released by A24, secured four nominations for best feature, screenplay and actor, for John Magaro, as well as breakthrough actor, for Orion Lee.
Scroll down for full list of nominations
Titles that scored two nominations included Chloe Zhao’s Venice Golden Lion winner Nomadland, for best feature and actress Frances McDormand; and Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always,...
- 11/12/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
This year’s awards season, delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, finally got underway with the announcement of the 2021 Gotham Awards nominations on November 12 (last year’s big reveal was on Oct. 24). These awards are presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) and honor the best of the year as determined by small committees of film journalists and festival programmers. The five Best Feature nominees, which were all directed by women, are: “The Assistant,” “First Cow,” “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” “Nomadland” and “Relic.” Scroll down to see the complete list of contenders.
Will these awards preview the Oscars? Perhaps. Last year’s Best Feature award went to “Marriage Story,” which did go on to reap a Best Picture bid. However, that was the exception rather than the rule. Indeed, its rival Gotham Awards nominees — “The Farewell,” “Hustlers,” “Uncut Gems” and “Waves” — were all snubbed by the Academy Awards.
Why is this?...
Will these awards preview the Oscars? Perhaps. Last year’s Best Feature award went to “Marriage Story,” which did go on to reap a Best Picture bid. However, that was the exception rather than the rule. Indeed, its rival Gotham Awards nominees — “The Farewell,” “Hustlers,” “Uncut Gems” and “Waves” — were all snubbed by the Academy Awards.
Why is this?...
- 11/12/2020
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
The starting pistol of awards season has been officially fired with the 30th annual IFP Gotham Awards announcing its nominations and making history. For the first time, women direct all the nominees for best feature. Among them are “The Assistant” from Kitty Green, “First Cow” from Kelly Reichardt, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” from Eliza Hittman, “Nomadland” from Chloé Zhao and “Relic” from Natalie Erika James.
In the best actor category, Chadwick Boseman received a posthumous nomination for his work in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” a performance likely to be shortlisted by many awards bodies over the next few months. The other nominees included Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Jude Law (“The Nest”), John Magaro (“First Cow”) and Jesse Plemons (“I’m Thinking of Ending Things”).
For the actresses, the group gave a very diverse field of cultures and experience. Nicole Beharie’s turn in “Miss Juneteenth” is a riveting portrait, and...
In the best actor category, Chadwick Boseman received a posthumous nomination for his work in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” a performance likely to be shortlisted by many awards bodies over the next few months. The other nominees included Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Jude Law (“The Nest”), John Magaro (“First Cow”) and Jesse Plemons (“I’m Thinking of Ending Things”).
For the actresses, the group gave a very diverse field of cultures and experience. Nicole Beharie’s turn in “Miss Juneteenth” is a riveting portrait, and...
- 11/12/2020
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Daniele Luchetti’s “The Ties” (“Lacci”), the first Italian film to open the Venice Film Festival in 11 years, garnered warm reviews on its world premiere on Wednesday evening, and has been sold by MK2 Films in a raft of territories around the world.
MK2 Films has been able to lure major distributors in key markets, notably France (Pyramide), Spain (Caramel), Latin America (Synapse), China (Huanxi), Portugal (Midas), Greece (Weirdwave), Austria (Thim), Switzerland (Cineworx), Cis (Provzyglad), Bulgaria (Cinelibri) and former Yugoslavia (McF).
“The Ties” opens in Naples, in the early 1980s, and revolves around the relationship of Aldo and Vanda who go through a separation after Aldo reveals an affair. Their two young children are torn between their parents, in a whirlwind of resentment; but even without love, the ties that keep people together are inescapable, and 30 years later, Aldo and Vanda are still married.
The movie is headlined by a...
MK2 Films has been able to lure major distributors in key markets, notably France (Pyramide), Spain (Caramel), Latin America (Synapse), China (Huanxi), Portugal (Midas), Greece (Weirdwave), Austria (Thim), Switzerland (Cineworx), Cis (Provzyglad), Bulgaria (Cinelibri) and former Yugoslavia (McF).
“The Ties” opens in Naples, in the early 1980s, and revolves around the relationship of Aldo and Vanda who go through a separation after Aldo reveals an affair. Their two young children are torn between their parents, in a whirlwind of resentment; but even without love, the ties that keep people together are inescapable, and 30 years later, Aldo and Vanda are still married.
The movie is headlined by a...
- 9/3/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The pre-opening film will be Andrea Segre’s Molecole, shot in Venice during the lockdown; the members of the various juries have also been announced. The Ties by Daniele Luchetti will have the honour of opening the 77th edition of the Venice International Film Festival (2-12 September), out of competition. Produced by Beppe Caschetto for Ibc Movie together with Rai Cinema, the new film by the director of My Brother Is an Only Child and Our Life is based on a novel by Domenico Starnone and is described as “a mystery about feelings, a story of loyalty and faithlessness, of resentment and shame”. The main characters are Aldo and Vanda (Alba Rohrwacher), who live in Naples in the early 1980s. Their marriage begins to break down when Aldo falls in love with young...
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
Paris-based company launches a quartet of auteur titles at the Efm.
Paris-based company mk2 films has boarded sales on Italian director Daniele Luchetti’s The Ties, a portrait of a broken marriage told through the separate perspectives of the wife, husband and children and set against the backdrop of Naples.
Alba Rohrwacher and Luigi Lo Cascio star as the couple in a cast also featuring Laura Morante and Giovanna Mezzogiorno.
Adapted from Italian writer Domenico Starnone’s 2014 novel Lacci, the feature is produced by Beppe Caschetto’s Bologna-based Ibc Movie, the credits of which also include The Traitor and Martin Eden,...
Paris-based company mk2 films has boarded sales on Italian director Daniele Luchetti’s The Ties, a portrait of a broken marriage told through the separate perspectives of the wife, husband and children and set against the backdrop of Naples.
Alba Rohrwacher and Luigi Lo Cascio star as the couple in a cast also featuring Laura Morante and Giovanna Mezzogiorno.
Adapted from Italian writer Domenico Starnone’s 2014 novel Lacci, the feature is produced by Beppe Caschetto’s Bologna-based Ibc Movie, the credits of which also include The Traitor and Martin Eden,...
- 2/20/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Crime drama opened in Italy in May.
Sony Pictures Classics (Spc) will release Marco Bellocchio’s Italian best international feature film Oscar submission The Traitor on January 31, 2020.
The Traitor premiered in Cannes and stars Pierfrancesco Favino as Tommaso Buscetta, a mobster who fled to Brazil and watched the mafia wars from afar.
After Buscetta was extradited to Italy, he met Judge Giovanni Falcone and betrayed the eternal vow he made to the Cosa Nostra. The Traitor was released in Italy on May 23.
Bellocchio and Favino will present a screening at New York Film Festival on October 6 - its first major...
Sony Pictures Classics (Spc) will release Marco Bellocchio’s Italian best international feature film Oscar submission The Traitor on January 31, 2020.
The Traitor premiered in Cannes and stars Pierfrancesco Favino as Tommaso Buscetta, a mobster who fled to Brazil and watched the mafia wars from afar.
After Buscetta was extradited to Italy, he met Judge Giovanni Falcone and betrayed the eternal vow he made to the Cosa Nostra. The Traitor was released in Italy on May 23.
Bellocchio and Favino will present a screening at New York Film Festival on October 6 - its first major...
- 10/1/2019
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Crime drama opened in Italy in May.
Sony Pictures Classics (Spc) will release Marco Bellocchio’s Italian best international feature film Oscar submission The Traitor on January 31, 2020.
The Traitor premiered in Cannes and stars Pierfrancesco Favino as Tommaso Buscetta, a mobster who fled to Brazil and watched the mafia wars from afar.
After Buscetta was extradited to Italy, he met Judge Giovanni Falcone and betrayed the eternal vow he made to the Cosa Nostra. The Traitor was released in Italy on May 23.
Bellocchio and Favino will present a screening at New York Film Festival on October 6 - its first major...
Sony Pictures Classics (Spc) will release Marco Bellocchio’s Italian best international feature film Oscar submission The Traitor on January 31, 2020.
The Traitor premiered in Cannes and stars Pierfrancesco Favino as Tommaso Buscetta, a mobster who fled to Brazil and watched the mafia wars from afar.
After Buscetta was extradited to Italy, he met Judge Giovanni Falcone and betrayed the eternal vow he made to the Cosa Nostra. The Traitor was released in Italy on May 23.
Bellocchio and Favino will present a screening at New York Film Festival on October 6 - its first major...
- 10/1/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Sony Pictures Classics has picked up the North American, Latin American, Scandinavian, Australian and New Zealand rights to Marco Bellocchio’s mob drama “The Traitor,” or “Il traditore,” following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday.
Bellocchio also wrote the script with Ludovica Rampoldi, Valia Santela, and Francesco Piccolo. “The Traitor” is produced by Beppe Caschetto, Michael Weber, Viola Fugen, Simone Gattoni, Caio Gullane, Fabiano Gullane and Alexandra Henochsberg, while Paula Cosenza and Thiago Mascarenhas are serving as executive producers.
The drama follows the real life of Tommaso Buscetta, a Sicilian Mafia boss who became an informant for authorities in Sicily during the 1980s. Pierfrancesco Favino, Maria Fernanda Candido and Luigi Lo Cascio star.
Also Read: 'The Traitor' Film Review: Sturdy Mafia Biopic Loses Something in Translation
“The Traitor” is a co-production between Ibc Movie, Rai Cinema, Kavac Film, Gullane Productions, Ad Vitam Production, and Match Factory Productions.
Bellocchio also wrote the script with Ludovica Rampoldi, Valia Santela, and Francesco Piccolo. “The Traitor” is produced by Beppe Caschetto, Michael Weber, Viola Fugen, Simone Gattoni, Caio Gullane, Fabiano Gullane and Alexandra Henochsberg, while Paula Cosenza and Thiago Mascarenhas are serving as executive producers.
The drama follows the real life of Tommaso Buscetta, a Sicilian Mafia boss who became an informant for authorities in Sicily during the 1980s. Pierfrancesco Favino, Maria Fernanda Candido and Luigi Lo Cascio star.
Also Read: 'The Traitor' Film Review: Sturdy Mafia Biopic Loses Something in Translation
“The Traitor” is a co-production between Ibc Movie, Rai Cinema, Kavac Film, Gullane Productions, Ad Vitam Production, and Match Factory Productions.
- 5/24/2019
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
The Match Factory announces territory sales on The Traitor.
Sony Pictures Classics has picked up worldwide rights excluding France and German-speaking Europe to Michael Angelo Covino’s comedy and Un Certain Regard selection The Climb.
The distributor additionally confirmed on Friday (24) that it had acquired Marco Bellocchio’s Competition entry The Traitor from Match Factory, which announced a string of territory sales.
Covino and Kyle Marvin wrote The Climb based on their own experiences. The story tells of best friends and cycling enthusiasts whose close bond is strained when one sleeps with the other’s girlfriend. Covino and Marvin star alongside Gayle Rankin,...
Sony Pictures Classics has picked up worldwide rights excluding France and German-speaking Europe to Michael Angelo Covino’s comedy and Un Certain Regard selection The Climb.
The distributor additionally confirmed on Friday (24) that it had acquired Marco Bellocchio’s Competition entry The Traitor from Match Factory, which announced a string of territory sales.
Covino and Kyle Marvin wrote The Climb based on their own experiences. The story tells of best friends and cycling enthusiasts whose close bond is strained when one sleeps with the other’s girlfriend. Covino and Marvin star alongside Gayle Rankin,...
- 5/24/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
After Triumphant Cannes Premiere, ‘The Traitor (Il Traditore)’ Is Acquired By Sony Pictures Classics
Exclusive: Following its Cannes premiere Thursday evening, The Traitor’ (Il traditore) is being acquired for North American distribution by Sony Pictures Classics, sources said. The Marco Bellocchio-directed drama chronicled the takedown of organized crime seen through the eyes of Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino), a key mob figure who turned state’s evidence in a move that led others to do the same, crumbling the omerta code that allowed the gangsters to operate unfettered. A slew of killers and drug traffickers ended up in prison as a result.
The drama unfolds in 1980, when the game grew from old-style crime with decorum to a more bloodthirsty business. Buscetta’s decision to turn “rat” leads to the arrest of all the mafia chieftains, who face off against Buscetta in a “maxi trial” that was shocking because no one at his level of criminal prominence had done such a thing. To the star witness,...
The drama unfolds in 1980, when the game grew from old-style crime with decorum to a more bloodthirsty business. Buscetta’s decision to turn “rat” leads to the arrest of all the mafia chieftains, who face off against Buscetta in a “maxi trial” that was shocking because no one at his level of criminal prominence had done such a thing. To the star witness,...
- 5/23/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
The Traitor
Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio, whose radical early works were a seminal part of 1960s and 1970s Italian cinema, embarks on his latest feature The Traitor, a biopic of Cosa Nostra member Tommaso Buscetta, the first high ranking official of the mafia organization to break their code of silence. Pierfrancesco Favino stars as Buscetta, joined by Brazilian actress Maria Fernando Candido, Luigi Lo Cascio, Fabrizio Ferracane and Fausto Russo Alesi. Oscar winning composer Nicola Piovani of 1998’s Life is Beautiful is writing the score and Vladan Radovic will serve as Dp. The feature is a four-country co-pro financed through Italy’s Ibc Movie, Kavac Film and Rai Cinema, while France’s Ad Vitam, Arte France Cinema and Canal Plus are also joined by Brazil’s Gullane and Germany’s Match Factory.…...
Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio, whose radical early works were a seminal part of 1960s and 1970s Italian cinema, embarks on his latest feature The Traitor, a biopic of Cosa Nostra member Tommaso Buscetta, the first high ranking official of the mafia organization to break their code of silence. Pierfrancesco Favino stars as Buscetta, joined by Brazilian actress Maria Fernando Candido, Luigi Lo Cascio, Fabrizio Ferracane and Fausto Russo Alesi. Oscar winning composer Nicola Piovani of 1998’s Life is Beautiful is writing the score and Vladan Radovic will serve as Dp. The feature is a four-country co-pro financed through Italy’s Ibc Movie, Kavac Film and Rai Cinema, while France’s Ad Vitam, Arte France Cinema and Canal Plus are also joined by Brazil’s Gullane and Germany’s Match Factory.…...
- 1/7/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Mafia story Pericle Il Nero, co-produced by the Dardenne brothers, plays in Un Certain Regard while Fiore is in Directors’ Fortnight.
Italian sales outfit Rai Com has added two titles from the Cannes line-up to its slate.
The first title Pericle Il Nero, playing in Un Certain Regard, is a mafia thriller from director Stefano Mordini (Steel).
The Italian-Belgian-French co-production stars Riccardo Scamarcio (Burnt) who also produces the project alongside Valeria Golino, Viola Prestieri. It is co-produced by Alain Attal and the Dardenne brothers.
Production companies were Buena Onda, Les Films du Fleuve, Les Production du Trésor with Rai Cinema
Based on Giuseppe Ferrandino’s 1995 novel the story follows a failed porn actor who works as an enforcer for a mafia kingpin. One day, he finds himself confronted with an all-out turf war after an errand goes drastically wrong, leading him to flee across Europe.
The second title is Fiore, which screens...
Italian sales outfit Rai Com has added two titles from the Cannes line-up to its slate.
The first title Pericle Il Nero, playing in Un Certain Regard, is a mafia thriller from director Stefano Mordini (Steel).
The Italian-Belgian-French co-production stars Riccardo Scamarcio (Burnt) who also produces the project alongside Valeria Golino, Viola Prestieri. It is co-produced by Alain Attal and the Dardenne brothers.
Production companies were Buena Onda, Les Films du Fleuve, Les Production du Trésor with Rai Cinema
Based on Giuseppe Ferrandino’s 1995 novel the story follows a failed porn actor who works as an enforcer for a mafia kingpin. One day, he finds himself confronted with an all-out turf war after an errand goes drastically wrong, leading him to flee across Europe.
The second title is Fiore, which screens...
- 4/28/2016
- ScreenDaily
Mafia story Pericle Il Nero, co-produced by the Dardenne brothers, plays in Un Certain Regard while Fiore is in Directors’ Fortnight.
Italian sales outfit Rai Com has added two titles from the Cannes line-up to its slate.
The first title Pericle Il Nero, playing in Un Certain Regard, is a mafia thriller from director Stefano Mordini (Steel).
The Italian-Belgian-French co-production stars Riccardo Scamarcio (Burnt) who also produces the project alongside Valeria Golino, Viola Prestieri. It is co-produced by Alain Attal and the Dardenne brothers.
Production companies were Buena Onda, Les Films du Fleuve, Les Production du Trésor with Rai Cinema
Based on Giuseppe Ferrandino’s 1995 novel the story follows a failed porn actor who works as an enforcer for a mafia kingpin. One day, he finds himself confronted with an all-out turf war after an errand goes drastically wrong, leading him to flee across Europe.
The second title is Fiore, which screens...
Italian sales outfit Rai Com has added two titles from the Cannes line-up to its slate.
The first title Pericle Il Nero, playing in Un Certain Regard, is a mafia thriller from director Stefano Mordini (Steel).
The Italian-Belgian-French co-production stars Riccardo Scamarcio (Burnt) who also produces the project alongside Valeria Golino, Viola Prestieri. It is co-produced by Alain Attal and the Dardenne brothers.
Production companies were Buena Onda, Les Films du Fleuve, Les Production du Trésor with Rai Cinema
Based on Giuseppe Ferrandino’s 1995 novel the story follows a failed porn actor who works as an enforcer for a mafia kingpin. One day, he finds himself confronted with an all-out turf war after an errand goes drastically wrong, leading him to flee across Europe.
The second title is Fiore, which screens...
- 4/28/2016
- ScreenDaily
Mafia story Pericle Il Nero, co-produced by the Dardenne brothers, plays in Un Certain Regard while Fiore is in Directors’ Fortnight.
Italian sales outfit Rai Com has added two titles from the Cannes line-up to its slate.
The first title Pericle Il Nero [pictured top], playing in Un Certain Regard, is a mafia thriller from director Stefano Mordini (Steel).
The Italian-Belgian-French co-production stars Riccardo Scamarcio (Burnt) who also produces the project alongside Valeria Golino, Viola Prestieri. It is co-produced by Alain Attal and the Dardenne brothers.
Production companies were Buena Onda, Les Films du Fleuve, Les Production du Trésor with Rai Cinema
Based on Giuseppe Ferrandino’s 1995 novel the story follows a failed porn actor who works as an enforcer for a mafia kingpin. One day, he finds himself confronted with an all-out turf war after an errand goes drastically wrong, leading him to flee across Europe.
The second title is Fiore, which screens...
Italian sales outfit Rai Com has added two titles from the Cannes line-up to its slate.
The first title Pericle Il Nero [pictured top], playing in Un Certain Regard, is a mafia thriller from director Stefano Mordini (Steel).
The Italian-Belgian-French co-production stars Riccardo Scamarcio (Burnt) who also produces the project alongside Valeria Golino, Viola Prestieri. It is co-produced by Alain Attal and the Dardenne brothers.
Production companies were Buena Onda, Les Films du Fleuve, Les Production du Trésor with Rai Cinema
Based on Giuseppe Ferrandino’s 1995 novel the story follows a failed porn actor who works as an enforcer for a mafia kingpin. One day, he finds himself confronted with an all-out turf war after an errand goes drastically wrong, leading him to flee across Europe.
The second title is Fiore, which screens...
- 4/28/2016
- ScreenDaily
Sweet Dreams
Director: Marco Bellocchio
Writer: Massimo Gramellini
Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio shows no signs of slowing down in his sixth decade of filmmaking. Hot off his Venice 2015 premiere of his intriguing historical drama/social comedy Blood of My Blood, Bellocchio set to work on filming Sweet Dreams, an adaptation of a novel by Massimo Gramellini about a secret kept sealed in an envelope for forty years, and a woman assisting a man who suffers from unresolved issues over the death of his mother when he was a young boy. French actress Bérénice Bejo joins a cast of notable Italian actors, including Valerio Mastandrea as the tortured protagonist.
Cast: Bérénice Bejo, Valerio Mastandrea, Fabrizio Gifuni, Barbara Ronchi
Production Co./Producers: Ibc Movie’s Beppe Caschetto, Kavac, Rai Cinema
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. Tbd (domestic) Match Factory (international).
Release Date: Though he premiered Vincere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, Bellocchio...
Director: Marco Bellocchio
Writer: Massimo Gramellini
Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio shows no signs of slowing down in his sixth decade of filmmaking. Hot off his Venice 2015 premiere of his intriguing historical drama/social comedy Blood of My Blood, Bellocchio set to work on filming Sweet Dreams, an adaptation of a novel by Massimo Gramellini about a secret kept sealed in an envelope for forty years, and a woman assisting a man who suffers from unresolved issues over the death of his mother when he was a young boy. French actress Bérénice Bejo joins a cast of notable Italian actors, including Valerio Mastandrea as the tortured protagonist.
Cast: Bérénice Bejo, Valerio Mastandrea, Fabrizio Gifuni, Barbara Ronchi
Production Co./Producers: Ibc Movie’s Beppe Caschetto, Kavac, Rai Cinema
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. Tbd (domestic) Match Factory (international).
Release Date: Though he premiered Vincere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, Bellocchio...
- 1/9/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Exclusive: New Alba Rohrwacher drama among trio.
Indie sales powerhouse The Match Factory has struck a three-film deal with Cannes regular Marco Bellocchio, which includes the acclaimed director’s next two films and his directorial debut Fists in the Pocket (I Pugni in Tasca).
Alba Rohrwacher, star of Hungry Hearts and The Wonders, is set to reteam with the Dormant Beauty director on Blood of my Blood (Sangue Del Mio Sangue).
The actress stars alongside Filippo Timi (Vincere), Roberto Herlitzka (The Great Beauty), Pier Giorgio Bellocchio and Lidyia Liberman in the film currently near completion which Bellocchio describes as a story about “love for the past and the need to make a clean break with it”.
The film is a co-production between Simone Gattoni of Kavac Film, Beppe Caschetto of Ibc Movie, Tiziana Soudani of Amka Films Production, Fabio Conversi of Barbary Films and Rai Cinema.
The deal will also include Sweet Dreams (Fai Bei Sogni) - announced...
Indie sales powerhouse The Match Factory has struck a three-film deal with Cannes regular Marco Bellocchio, which includes the acclaimed director’s next two films and his directorial debut Fists in the Pocket (I Pugni in Tasca).
Alba Rohrwacher, star of Hungry Hearts and The Wonders, is set to reteam with the Dormant Beauty director on Blood of my Blood (Sangue Del Mio Sangue).
The actress stars alongside Filippo Timi (Vincere), Roberto Herlitzka (The Great Beauty), Pier Giorgio Bellocchio and Lidyia Liberman in the film currently near completion which Bellocchio describes as a story about “love for the past and the need to make a clean break with it”.
The film is a co-production between Simone Gattoni of Kavac Film, Beppe Caschetto of Ibc Movie, Tiziana Soudani of Amka Films Production, Fabio Conversi of Barbary Films and Rai Cinema.
The deal will also include Sweet Dreams (Fai Bei Sogni) - announced...
- 5/14/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
ROME -- Nine months, two distributors, several prizes and much positive word-of-mouth later, Gianni Zanasi's 2007 Venice hit comedy "Don't Think About It" has finally made it to Italian screens. Zanasi's last film was 1999's "Beside Myself", a much smaller and more intimate effort. Bubbly and smart, the new film was branded the first worthy "commedia all'italiana" in years. It has sold to 17 territories and the appeal of its broadly recognizable theme and humor could push it beyond the arthouse niche in some venues.
Failed 35-year-old punk rock musician Stefano (Valerio Mastandrea) returns to his small hometown from Rome after catching his girlfriend cheating on him. Seeking refuge, the prodigal son nevertheless freely criticizes his family and their "bourgeois facades." But things are never as simple as they seem: His older brother is running the family business into the ground and falling for a call girl, his sister has dropped out of college to work with dolphins, his mother does nothing but frequent New Age classes and his father plays golf all day long.
When skeletons start popping out of closets (even about the identity of his real father) and the house is foreclosed upon, Stefano is the least equipped of all to handle it. With a tinge of melancholy, he realizes he craves the safety nets he fled, which the others, however, have outgrown.
Zanasi shoots in bright, sunny colors with a style that is classic yet loose. He allows his actors to perform with naturalistic ease. They are fun to watch -- from the ever-dependent Mastandrea to stars Giuseppe Battiston and Anita Caprioli, as well as Gisella Burinato and Teco Celio as Stefano's parents.
While the subject matter may not be entirely original -- and The New Age and golf touches smack more of American than Italian families -- the film is solidly entertaining and features a great soundtrack with songs by Merci Miss Monroe, Les Fauves and Atomik Dog.
DON'T THINK ABOUT IT
ITC Movie, Pupkin Production in collaboration with La7
International sales: Pyramide International
Credits:
Director: Gianni Zanasi
Writers: Zanasi, Michele Pellegrini
Producers: Beppe Caschetto, Rita Rognoni
Director of photography: Giulio Pietromarchi
Production designer: Roberto De Angelis
Music: Merci Miss Monroe, Les Fauves and Atomik Dog
Costume designer: Valentina Tavia
Editor: Rognoni
Cast:
Stefano: Valerio Mastandrea
Michela: Anita Caprioli
Alberto: Giuseppe Battiston
Mamma Nardini: Gisella Burinato
Walter: Teco Celio
Nadine: Caterina Murino
Paolo: Paolo Briguglia
Stefano: Dino Abbrescia
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Failed 35-year-old punk rock musician Stefano (Valerio Mastandrea) returns to his small hometown from Rome after catching his girlfriend cheating on him. Seeking refuge, the prodigal son nevertheless freely criticizes his family and their "bourgeois facades." But things are never as simple as they seem: His older brother is running the family business into the ground and falling for a call girl, his sister has dropped out of college to work with dolphins, his mother does nothing but frequent New Age classes and his father plays golf all day long.
When skeletons start popping out of closets (even about the identity of his real father) and the house is foreclosed upon, Stefano is the least equipped of all to handle it. With a tinge of melancholy, he realizes he craves the safety nets he fled, which the others, however, have outgrown.
Zanasi shoots in bright, sunny colors with a style that is classic yet loose. He allows his actors to perform with naturalistic ease. They are fun to watch -- from the ever-dependent Mastandrea to stars Giuseppe Battiston and Anita Caprioli, as well as Gisella Burinato and Teco Celio as Stefano's parents.
While the subject matter may not be entirely original -- and The New Age and golf touches smack more of American than Italian families -- the film is solidly entertaining and features a great soundtrack with songs by Merci Miss Monroe, Les Fauves and Atomik Dog.
DON'T THINK ABOUT IT
ITC Movie, Pupkin Production in collaboration with La7
International sales: Pyramide International
Credits:
Director: Gianni Zanasi
Writers: Zanasi, Michele Pellegrini
Producers: Beppe Caschetto, Rita Rognoni
Director of photography: Giulio Pietromarchi
Production designer: Roberto De Angelis
Music: Merci Miss Monroe, Les Fauves and Atomik Dog
Costume designer: Valentina Tavia
Editor: Rognoni
Cast:
Stefano: Valerio Mastandrea
Michela: Anita Caprioli
Alberto: Giuseppe Battiston
Mamma Nardini: Gisella Burinato
Walter: Teco Celio
Nadine: Caterina Murino
Paolo: Paolo Briguglia
Stefano: Dino Abbrescia
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Venice International Film Festival
VENICE, Italy -- Italian director Paolo Franchi's brittle little story of male angst tells of a man named Bruno (Bruno Todeschini) who spends all his time looking glum and wandering off on his own.
Something is happening to Bruno, and it may be the result of learning that he is sterile or that his company is in financial trouble and the bank manager has given him a week to settle his debts. Perhaps it's just that he hasn't told his wife anything about it and given that the radiantly perfect Irene Jacob plays his loving spouse Anne, perhaps he's simply off his nut.
Cryptic but not engaging, and with a painfully loud and ugly sound mix, the film, which screened In Competition at the Venice International Film Festival, is unlikely to travel far beyond its home market.
Not very much becomes clear in the murky screenplay, which Franchi cowrote, especially when it introduces a suicidal stalker named Luca (Elio Germano) who turns out to be the son of Bruno's banker Mr. Neri (Paolo Graziosi), who has gone missing. Luca has panic attacks, is cruel to his patient girlfriend Elisa (Mimosa Campironi) and has sexual fantasies about Bruno's wife.
Unlike Bruno, who becomes increasingly detached from everyone including Luca after the boy tells him he has murdered his father. Ordinarily, that would lead to some tension in a movie but not in this one.
FALLEN HEROES Fallen Heroes (Nessuna qualita agli eroi)
An ITC Movie production
Director: Paolo Franchi
Writers: Paol Franchi, Daniela Ceselli, Michele Pellegrini
Producers: Beppe Caschetto, Anastasia Michelagnoli
Director of photography: Cesare Accetta
Production designer: Gianmaria Cau
Music: Martin Wheeler
Co-producers: Donatella Botti, Elda Guidinetti, Andres Pfaeffli;
Costume designer: Grazia Colombini
Editor: Alessio Doglione.
Cast:
Bruno: Bruno Todeschini
Luca: Elio Germano
Anne: Irene Jacob
Cecile: Maria DeMedeiros
Giorgio Neri: Paolo Graziosi
Elisa: Mimosa Campironi
Bruno's mother: Alexandra Stewart
Exhibition lecturer: Rinaldo Rocco
No MPAA rating, running time 102 minutes...
VENICE, Italy -- Italian director Paolo Franchi's brittle little story of male angst tells of a man named Bruno (Bruno Todeschini) who spends all his time looking glum and wandering off on his own.
Something is happening to Bruno, and it may be the result of learning that he is sterile or that his company is in financial trouble and the bank manager has given him a week to settle his debts. Perhaps it's just that he hasn't told his wife anything about it and given that the radiantly perfect Irene Jacob plays his loving spouse Anne, perhaps he's simply off his nut.
Cryptic but not engaging, and with a painfully loud and ugly sound mix, the film, which screened In Competition at the Venice International Film Festival, is unlikely to travel far beyond its home market.
Not very much becomes clear in the murky screenplay, which Franchi cowrote, especially when it introduces a suicidal stalker named Luca (Elio Germano) who turns out to be the son of Bruno's banker Mr. Neri (Paolo Graziosi), who has gone missing. Luca has panic attacks, is cruel to his patient girlfriend Elisa (Mimosa Campironi) and has sexual fantasies about Bruno's wife.
Unlike Bruno, who becomes increasingly detached from everyone including Luca after the boy tells him he has murdered his father. Ordinarily, that would lead to some tension in a movie but not in this one.
FALLEN HEROES Fallen Heroes (Nessuna qualita agli eroi)
An ITC Movie production
Director: Paolo Franchi
Writers: Paol Franchi, Daniela Ceselli, Michele Pellegrini
Producers: Beppe Caschetto, Anastasia Michelagnoli
Director of photography: Cesare Accetta
Production designer: Gianmaria Cau
Music: Martin Wheeler
Co-producers: Donatella Botti, Elda Guidinetti, Andres Pfaeffli;
Costume designer: Grazia Colombini
Editor: Alessio Doglione.
Cast:
Bruno: Bruno Todeschini
Luca: Elio Germano
Anne: Irene Jacob
Cecile: Maria DeMedeiros
Giorgio Neri: Paolo Graziosi
Elisa: Mimosa Campironi
Bruno's mother: Alexandra Stewart
Exhibition lecturer: Rinaldo Rocco
No MPAA rating, running time 102 minutes...
- 8/31/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.